


A Present from the Future, the Us of the Past

by neezwritesexo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Park Family, Son!Sehun, married!chanbaek, pre-divorce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2020-07-12 18:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neezwritesexo/pseuds/neezwritesexo
Summary: Husbands Chanyeol and Baekhyun are in the brink of filing for a divorce when a teenager suddenly shows up on their front porch.“I’m Sehun. Your son from the future.”





	1. ONE

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this prompt](https://twitter.com/neezwritesexo/status/1145008473966436354?s=20). Also cross-posted on my Twitter.

“We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?” Chanyeol whispers into the silence of the room. He feels Baekhyun shift from the opposite side of the couch. He keeps his head trained on the living room carpet, suddenly finding it interesting.

“I-I think this is the best for us both,” was the other man’s quiet reply.

“It is, isn’t it? We’re not happy with each other anymore. _I_ don’t make you happy anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol turns to look at his husband. Can he even still call him that?

“It’s not your fault, Baek.”

“It’s not yours either,” Baekhyun says meeting his eyes. “It happens to lots of couples, you know. We just happen to be one of the unlucky ones.”

Chanyeol sighs, deflated. “What exactly _happened_ to us, though?”

Baekhyun shakes his head, a bitter smile on his lips. “I don’t know either. I guess we just stopped seeing a future with each other - a future together.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but think that Baekhyun was right. Somewhere along the way, they had lost that spark. Not love, not respect, because he knows he will always love Baekhyun. But as the song goes, sometimes love just is not enough.

“So, this is it, huh?” Chanyeol says.

“I guess so.”

He nods once and stands up from the couch. “I’ll talk to my lawyer tomorrow. You should see yours too.”

He doesn’t wait for Baekhyun to respond and just walks to the stairs that will take him to the guest room. They had long since started sleeping in separate rooms.

“Good night, Yeol,” Baekhyun calls after him.

“Good night, Baek,” he replies without looking back.

Sometime during the night, it started to rain. But it wasn’t the heavy pounding of rainwater on their roof that woke them up, but the successive hammering on their front door.

Baekhyun stumbled out of bed grumbling incoherently and almost ran into Chanyeol in the hallway. The taller man also looked only half-awake, trudging through the stairs with one eye open and an annoyed expression.

“Are you expecting someone?” Baekhyun asked, stiffling a yawn.

“This early and in this weather?” Chanyeol replies, sounding as annoyed as he looked. “Are you?”

“No.”

The two of them made their way downstairs to the front door. Chanyeol swept the curtains covering the window overlooking their front porch aside to peek at who was causing the ruckus. He was surprised at what he saw.

“Baek, there’s a kid on our porch,” he says, turning to his husband. “Well, not a kid. A teenager.”

“What?” Baekhyun answers in disbelief. “Why would there be a teenager on our porch at six in the morning?”

He moves to stand beside Chanyeol by the window and swears under his breath when the said kid delivers another round of continuous loud knocks.

“This better not be a useless prank, because I swear to God, I will hurt somebody,” Baekhyun exclaims and gives Chanyeol a gentle push toward the doorway.

The taller man sighs. Of course, it had to be him.

He pulls the door open and makes the kid jump back in surprise. Chanyeol gives the boy a once-over. He was tall – just a few inches shorter than him, with broad shoulders and unruly dark hair that stuck to his forehead. He was also soaking wet and shivering from the cold.

What was this kid doing under the rain, and why did he end up on their front porch?

“What do you want, kid?” Chanyeol asks, getting a look at the boy’s face this time. For reasons unknown to him, he felt like he had seen the kid somewhere before. He just couldn’t remember when or where.

“Dad,” was the only thing he heard before the boy collapsed, straight into Chanyeol’s arms.

“Chanyeol, I think he’s awake,” Chanyeol hears Baekhyun call from the living room.

They had decided to make themselves productive while waiting for the teen to regain consciousness. It had already been twenty minutes, and Chanyeol had managed to make coffee for him and Baekhyun. He was about to get started with breakfast when his husband – well, soon-to-be ex-husband, called him.

Chanyeol leaves the kitchen for a minute, and heads back to the living room. He finds Baekhyun helping the kid up into a sitting position on their couch.

“Hey, kid, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” he immediately asks, not understanding where the feeling of worry is coming from. He sits beside Baekhyun on the ottoman, so they were face-to-face with their _visitor._

For a moment, the boy looked disoriented, eyes going back and forth between him and Baekhyun. Now that they were somewhere with good lighting, Chanyeol was almost certain that he _knows_ this boy from somewhere.

“Kid? Do you need us to take you to a hospital?” Baekhyun asks him again when all they got was more confused silence and intense staring.

“Uhm, what happened?” the boy manages to croak out softly.

“You passed out,” Chanyeol explains. “Why were you outside in this weather? Where are your parents?”

The boy doesn’t answer and avoids their gaze. Was he an orphan?

Chanyeol watches as the teen inspects the shirt they put him in, with a look of confusion and something else on his face. If he didn’t know better, he would think that the boy would burst into tears any moment.

It looked like Baekhyun noticed the extra special attention the boy was giving the shirt, too, because it was him who answered the silent question.

“Oh, your clothes are in the dryer. They were really soaked and we didn’t want you getting sick - well, sicker.”

The boy looks up and meets their eyes. There was a slight quiver to his lower lip that did not escape Chanyeol’s notice. He was looking at the two of them with an emotion that Chanyeol can’t put a name to.

“Are you okay?” he asks for the hundredth time. Somehow, seeing this kid upset did not sit well with him.

“Oh, um yes. Sorry,” the boy answers meekly and turns to Baekhyun. “Can I… Can I at least have a different shirt?”

Chanyeol was a little offended. It was one of his old ones. He was actually surprised to see this particular shirt, as he thought he had already given it away for goodwill. Apparently, Baekhyun had kept it – he was the one who changed the kid.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but comment. “Why? That one’s clean. You don’t like Iron Man?”

“But it’s papa’s favorite shirt of yours,” the kid answers without batting an eyelash.

_What?_

“I’m sorry, what?” Baekhyun exclaims, echoing his thoughts.

“This is _your_ ,” the kid says pointing to Baekhyun. “favorite shirt of dad’s. You said he wore it on your first date. I can’t wear it. It feels wrong.”

“How the fuck did you know about that? He doesn’t even know that!” Baekhyun cries.

“You told me, papa,” the kid says, without a hint of jest.

_What?_

At this point, Chanyeol was just confused. And dumbfounded. But mostly confused.

“Hold up,” he interrupts. “What the hell are you two talking about? And who are you calling papa? Who’s dad?”

“He’s papa,” the kid answers gesturing to Baekhyun. Then, he turns to Chanyeol. “You’re dad.”

Pin drop silence engulfed the room. Chanyeol opened his mouth and closed it again. What was one supposed to say to that?

“I’m getting a headache,” Baekhyun says, holding up a hand to massage his temples. He leaves the couch and stands in front of the kid with hands on his hips and a stern expression on his face.

“Who the hell are you, kid?” he demands, voice rising an octave higher.

“Baek, calm down,” Chanyeol chastises, fully knowing Baekhyun won’t listen to him anyway.

The kid however, remained unfazed. “My name is Sehun. I’m your son from the future.”

“Our son from—” Chanyeol sputters incredulously. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”

Baekhyun clearly did not find the situation funny. His expression turned murderous. “Did Minseok and Jongdae put you up to this? Because it’s exactly the kind of shit they would pull.”

“Uncle Min and Uncle Dae are on a trip to the Bahamas,” Sehun answers, not the least intimidated. How he could take on a pissed-off Baekhyun, was beyond Chanyeol. It took him _years_ to learn how not to cower from the glare his husband was currently fixing Sehun.

The kid had guts, he’ll give him that. He was also a very good actor and a very good liar.

Baekhyun and Sehun stared each other down for a few more seconds, as Chanyeol looked over nervously. Eventually, Baekhyun realized he was fighting a losing battle. The kid was _as stubborn_ as he was. His husband sighs, and throws his hands up in surrender.

“I can’t deal with this right now. I need to get ready for work,” he says and turns to Chanyeol. “ _You_ talk to him.”

Chanyeol resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course. Leave Chanyeol to deal with the difficult situation. Again.

Baekhyun storms back up the stairs without another word. Chanyeol sighs in defeat and turns to look at Sehun who had an apologetic look on his face.

_Too late, kid._

Whatever the deal was with this kid, could wait until he had his morning coffee, Chanyeol decides. Sehun looked harmless, anyway. If he was planning something sinister, Chanyeol was sure he was more than capable to take him on.

“You hungry, Sehun?”

For the _nth_ time that day, Chanyeol wonders why the answering smile he gets in return from Sehun was _so_ familiar and making him feel a weird warmth in his chest.

“You make the best pancakes, dad. The fried eggs are perfect, as usual.”

“Uhuh,” Chanyeol answers non-comitally.

The three of them were at the dining table, with him sitting at the head of the table and Sehun and Baekhyun on his either side. The latter was glaring at Sehun and Chanyeol had to kick him lightly from under the table.

_‘Be nice,’_ he mouths, but was countered with a scoff. Chanyeol expected it from Baekhyun. He was wondering why it took this long for his husband to start nagging. He wasn’t disappointed when Baekhyun finally looked like he had enough and spoke up.

“Alright, time to come clean. How did you know about the Iron Man shirt?”

“So it’s true?” Chanyeol exclaims in disbelief. “Was that why you never want me to give it away?”

“Well, you really looked cute that day,” Baekhyun murmurs, but still loud enough for him to hear. There was an obvious tint on his cheeks that Chanyeol had never seen for a long time. He tries to stifle a smile.

Baekhyun fixes him with a quick glare. “Stop changing the subject. Kid. Talk.”

Sehun shrugs and gulps down his food before answering. He looked at Chanyeol this time.

“The same way I know that you burned yourself a lot when trying to learn how to make fried eggs ‘coz that’s how papa liked them and you never told him the real reason you were brought to the ER that day. You told me. Both of you did.”

He used that same confident tone and speaks without a hint of hesitation, Chanyeol almost believes him. It takes a moment for the what Sehun said to sink in, and when it did, Chanyeol went from calm and collected to baffled and furious.

How the hell did this kid know that? It was a secret he had kept hidden for years.

“You burned yourself?! You told me you fell off your Vespa! I knew it! That’s why you never let me come with you to the hospital!” Baekhyun screeches, making the taller man cringe.

“Not now, Baek,” Chanyeol says, interrupting the other’s rant and glowers at Sehun. “Okay this isn’t funny anymore, kid. Who are you really?”

“I just told you. I’m your son,” the boy answers stubbornly.

“No. Try again,” Baekhyun replies with the same tone.

“Papa, why won’t you believe me?” the kid whines, temporarily losing composure. It was almost comical, if not for their current predicament.

Baekhyun remains unaffected, his eyebrows raised and the hard look in his eyes never going away. “Number one, that’s impossible, like biologically. Number two, this isn’t a Marvel movie. Do you really expect me to believe that you came from the future? Number three, stop calling me papa, I’m not your father.”

“Fine. What do you want me to call you, then?” Sehun answers defiantly.

“How about our names – assuming you already know who we are?” Baekhyun challenges.

Sehun’s face suddenly lights up with mischief. “You mean I can call you Chanyeol and Baekhyun without getting grounded? Suh-weet.”

Baekhyun’s jaw fell open and Chanyeol had to hold back a laugh. He shouldn’t find the situation funny, but he does. He couldn’t figure out why he was such in a good mood. Maybe it was because of the fact that he and Baekhyun had breakfast together. He can’t remember when the last time was.

“Forget it,” Baekhyun says, interrupting his musings. “Get up.”

“Where are we going?” Sehun asks.

“I’m taking you to the police station,” Baekhyun answers.

Chanyeol gets up from his seat, alarmed. “Baek, let’s not act too rashly.”

“Relax, Chanyeol. I’m not turning him in. I’ll just go and check to see if he’s on the missing persons’ list or something. We have to at least make sure he doesn’t have a criminal record.”

Baekhyun’s reply gives Chanyeol some relief. Why was he so worked up anyway?

“Don’t worry, dad. It’s alright,” Sehun says to him when the boy notices his torn expression. “Thank you for breakfast!”

“Y-You’re welcome,” he replies, taken aback.

“Let’s go, kid. I’m already running late,” Baekhyun calls, interrupting their moment.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, papa?”

“I don’t think so. Let’s go.”

“See, this is where all the problems start. You forget the _little things._ ”

Baekhyun huffs, clearly annoyed. “What are you on about, kid? Let’s just go already!”

Sehun shakes his head firmly, refusing to budge. “Not until you kiss dad goodbye.”

“WHAT?”

“You heard me. You always tell me it’s how you both start your day right, so I’m not going until you do.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Just get it over with then, so we can leave,” Sehun says, undaunted by the scowl Baekhyun was fixing him.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and makes his way towards Chanyeol. He then tiptoes and lands an audible smack on Chanyeol’s cheek.

“Happy?” he asks Sehun sarcastically.

“Perfect,” Sehun answers with a wide grin. “Let’s go, papa. We don’t want you to be late,” Sehun says.

With one last “Bye, dad!”, he and Baekhyun were out of the house and into the driveway.

It was moments after Baekhyun’s car sped away, that Chanyeol had broken out of his trance. His fingers came up to touch the spot his husband kissed earlier, realizing just how much he missed it. It was a long time coming.

The car ride was awkward – for Baekhyun at least. The teenager with him looked like he couldn’t care less about being with an enclosed space with a stranger. In fact, Sehun seemed very comfortable, even humming under his breath.

Baekhyun’s thoughts on the other hand were a tangled mess. Who was this kid? How did he know so much about him and Chanyeol? If he was indeed lying, he was doing an exceptional job. Baekhyun chastised himself for even considering that Sehun was telling the truth. In what universe do time machines and sons from the future exist anyway?

His musing was interrupted when he recognized the words and tune the teen was singing under his breath. _What the hell?_

“How do you know that song?” he demands, finally breaking the silence that dragged on.

“I love this song. Don’t you?” Sehun replies with a fond smile.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“You won’t believe me anyway, papa.”

“I told you to stop–,” he begins but stops himself and decides to go back to the matter at hand. “That song wasn’t even released. How do you know it?”

_Heaven_. It was one of Chanyeol’s earlier compositions, when he was still trying to make a name for himself as a music producer. The song never got to see the light of day, but Baekhyun knew it by heart. Chanyeol used to sing it for him all the time, back when they were still dating. Chanyeol claimed that Baekhyun was the song’s muse and that it was written for him.

Baekhyun really loved this song. He still does. It was a reminder of their happier past, when things were simpler, before life and its shitty circumstances came between them. Baekhyun felt his eyes water at the thought, but willed it away. Now was not the time to be sentimental.

“Are you okay, papa?” Sehun asks worriedly.

“I’m fine,” he answers crisply. “Listen kid, I don’t know what your deal is, but I am going to get to the bottom of this. If I found out that you approached us with ill intentions, there will be hell to pay. You got it?”

To his surprise, Sehun merely smiled at his tirade, not looking the least intimidated. “You really are cute when you try to be threatening, papa. Dad always teases you about it, and you always end up sulking.”

Baekhyun sighed defeatedly. This kid was a good actor. He decides to give up. He’s confident he’ll find answers when they get to the police station anyway. For now, he’ll play along.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen. I need to stop by my office first. I’ll take you to the station by lunchtime. You’re not allowed to leave my sight. No funny business. My building has security, so if you try anything…” he warns.

Sehun nods with a solemn expression. “I know the rules, papa. I’ll be on my best behavior. Promise.”

“I’ll have to trust you, I guess,” he replies dejectedly. “Hopefully, you’ll be out of my hair by noon.”

The boy doesn’t answer and stays quiet the rest of the way. Baekhyun noticed the sudden drop in Sehun’s mood, but tried not to care. For some reason, that was really hard to do.

Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief when he finally parked the car. The tension was killing him. He was left puzzled as to why Sehun’s gloomy mood had such an effect on him.

The elevator ride up to his office was filled with silence once again. He observes Sehun from the corner of his eye. The boy was looking at the changing floor numbers, but otherwise looked comfortable with his surroundings. It was almost as if he had been here many times before.

His secretary greeted him at the door and immediately went off enumerating his schedule for the day.

“The mocks for the fall/winter collection are on your desk. You just need to approve and sign it off. The photo shoot for the launch next week is in an hour. Mr. Kim is already in the studio - who is this?”

“Oh, that’s um…” Baekhyun stutters, not knowing how to answer. He didn’t even think about how weird it was for him to take a teenager to work. He was already running late earlier and he just wanted to get to the office. He didn’t bother to formulate a plan for when people ask questions.

“I’m his nephew,” Sehun answers for him. “My name is Sehun.”

“I didn’t know Baekbom had a teenager?” his assistant says, confused.

“No, actually I’m a cousin’s son,” Sehun replies again. At least one of them wasn’t having a mental breakdown.

“Is that so? I can certainly see the resemblance.”

“Joohyun, can you please tell Jongdae to see me?” he interrupts, before the woman asks more questions.

His secretary blinks once and goes back to business mode. “Of course. I’ll need those mocks signed by noon, please.”

“I’ll get them to you after the shoot.”

With that, Joohyun leaves and he was once again left with Sehun. Baekhyun clears his throat before addressing the boy.

“Go sit on the couch for now. Let’s wait for Jongdae and hear what he has to say.”

“Okay, papa,” Sehun says and plops down the leather couch. “Can I read them?” he asks, pointing to the magazines on the coffee table.

“Sure,” he replies as he shrugs off his jacket and hangs it on the rack. Despite his doubts about the boy, he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Do you want anything to drink? To eat?”

“No thank you, papa. I’m still full from breakfast,” Sehun answers with the same cheeky grin. It was growing on him.

One thing he noticed about the boy was his politeness. Baekhyun had been nothing but uncivil to him, but Sehun never once talked back. He was unlike any other teenager he knows.

“You’re very polite,” he comments before he could think twice about it.

“Thank you,” Sehun says, still smiling. “My parents raised me well.”

Baekhyun could swear he felt an overwhelming sense of pride with those words.

There was a knock and with it came Jongdae’s cheerful voice. His friend of fifteen years poked his head through the door. “You were looking for me?”

“Come in.”

Jongdae immediately notices Sehun, and turns to Baekhyun with question. “Who’s the kid?”

Baekhyun and Jongdae have been friends since high school. They founded an online clothing brand, Privé, with the minimal savings they had after realizing that slaving under corporate umbrellas was not for either of them.

Along with Chanyeol, Jongdae was the one who struggled for years with him, while he was trying to make ends meet and their company flourish. They both had their share of mischievous antics, and knew each other from the roots of their hair to the tips of their toes.

So, when Jongdae fixed Baekhyun with a confused expression saying “ _Why the hell would Park-Byun Baekhyun bring a kid to work?_ ”, he was sure his friend didn’t know Sehun. _At all_.

Which leads back to the million-dollar-question: What was Sehun’s identity? Was he an assassin, sent to murder Chanyeol and Baekhyun in their sleep? Was he sent by one of his competitors in the market to spite him? Or was he…

_No_. There was no way in hell. Sehun wasn’t his – _their_ son.


	2. TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on [this prompt](https://twitter.com/neezwritesexo/status/1145008473966436354?s=20). Also cross-posted on my Twitter.

“So, a distant relative, huh?” Jongdae asks as he and Baekhyun, with Sehun in tow, made their way to the elevators. “I know all of your family Baek, why didn’t I meet this one before?”

They had made up the same excuse they gave his secretary to explain the teenager’s presence in the office. It was a good thing that they were already pressed for time to get the photoshoot going, or else, Jongdae would have more questions for him.

“ _Way,_ distant. They don’t come to the city much, so you haven’t met them.”

“Hmm,” his friend ponders, thumb on his chin as he takes another look at Sehun who had a sheepish smile on his face. “The resemblance is uncanny. If somebody were to say you were father and son, I’d believe it.”

Baekhyun exchanges a look with Sehun and the boy had almost a smug look on his face. His heart was racing, his brain too muddled to think straight. On the other hand, a seed of doubt was already planted on his mind.

_What if?_

He dismissed the thought almost immediately.

_Just no. There was no freaking way._

Baekhyun could swear his two companions heard his sigh of relief when the elevator doors finally opened. If they did, they didn’t comment on it. The three of them silently made their way to the studios, where Jongdae’s husband Minseok was waiting.

“Finally!” the photographer exclaims as they enter. “I was beginning to think we wouldn’t be able to get started until noon!”

Jongdae rolls his eyes at his husband, but proceeds to place a lingering kiss on his cheek. “Sorry, babe. You’re not angry are you, my precious little boo bear?”

Minseok chuckles and reciprocates with a kiss to Jongdae’s temple, the look in his eyes not doing anything to hide how in love he was with his husband.

Baekhyun averts his eyes. He and Chanyeol used to look at each other like that. He didn’t remember when the last time was.

“I’m not, but we do have a slight complication,” Minseok says, turning to Baekhyun this time.

“What’s the matter?” Baekhyun asks, holding back a groan. Why was nothing going right today?

“The clothes the supplier sent are too big for the model.”

“What?” the designer shrieks. “How can they make that mistake?”

Minseok shrugs. “I have no fucking clue. We tried it on earlier and none of them fit. Our catalogue will look like a joke if we push through with the shoot.”

“Can’t we ask them to re-send the correct sizes?”

“We can, but it won’t get here until late this afternoon. We need to do the shoot now, if we want to make it to editing and the printers for the hard copies.”

This was a very important shoot. They were launching a new collection, one Baekhyun and Jongdae personally designed. He can’t see it fall through.

Baekhyun massages his temples, feeling the onslaught of a very bad headache coming. He feels a hand soothing his back and turns to see that Sehun has stepped in behind him. Inexplicably, he finds the gesture comforting, and he relaxes.

“Unless...” Minseok suddenly declares, making Baekhyun turn his attention back to his friend. The photographer’s eyes, however, were fixed on Sehun. “Who’s this?”

“Baekhyun’s nephew,” Jongdae answers for him.

Minseok raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t know your brother had a kid this age.”

“It’s a long story,” Baekhyun simply answers, trying to dismiss the topic. “You were saying?”

“Well, the clothes are about his size…” Minseok trails with a knowing look.

Baekhyun was baffled. He shakes his head firmly. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” the photographer challenges. “We need a model. We have one right here.”

“He’s not a model!”

“Excuse me, what’s going on?” Sehun politely interjects, not fully grasping the situation.

“Say, kid, do you want to be my model today?”

“Minseok!”

“Baek, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea,” Jongdae interrupts. “We won’t even shoot his face, just the clothes from the neck down. I mean, desperate times, right?”

He hated it when Jongdae was making sense.

“But...”

“I’ll do it,” Sehun says from beside him. He turns to the teen and gives him a warning look that goes unnoticed. “No face, right?”

“No face.”

“Okay, then.”

“Great!” Minseok says and beams at Sehun. “Okay, everyone! Get ready, we don’t have much time.”

Baekhyun pulls Sehun to one side and glares at the teenager. “What are you doing?”

“Relax, papa. I’m just trying to help.”

“But what if...” Baekhyun begins, but struggles to complete his sentence.

What if what? What if Sehun was really from the future and people find out about his identity? What if he was really his and Chanyeol’s son? Leaving behind evidence of his existence would complicate things.

Wait, did he _really_ go there?

“Everything’s going to be okay, papa. No face,” Sehun tells him, apparently reading his thoughts.

Was he a mind reader now, too?

Baekhyun could do nothing but watch as Jongdae pulls Sehun away for hair and makeup.

He could come up with a list of a hundred things that could go wrong with this, but he was powerless.

In the end, he just decided to leave it all to fate.

Half an hour later, Sehun was dressed in the first ensemble. The teen steps out of the dressing room and collective gasps were heard in the room.

Where was the boy they found drenched on their porch this morning? This certainly did not look like him. In fact, Baekhyun would very much like to take back what he said earlier. Sehun looked _very much_ like a model.

“You know, he reminds me of someone,” Jongdae beside him whispers.

“Who?” Baekhyun asks distractedly.

“Remember way back when we were still starting and we were too broke to hire a model?”

Baekhyun felt like he was punched in the gut as wave after wave of memories came crashing back.

The four of them, in his and Chanyeol’s little apartment they converted to a makeshift studio; all the awkwardness in his husband’s face as he first posed for the camera, and how he eventually relaxed as Baekhyun cheered and cooed at him from behind the lens; the elation they felt when the photos were finally published.

Baekhyun’s hands balled into fists, reining the emotions in. It was all too much.

“Baek?” Jongdae calls his attention again when his friend notices his silence.

“Y-yeah?”

“You okay?”

“Of course.”

Jongdae doesn’t pry further and lets him be. Baekhyun lets himself get lost in his thoughts. As he watches Sehun take direction from Minseok, he couldn’t help but think that Jongdae was right.

Sehun did remind him so much of Chanyeol.

Baekhyun decides to head to the police station immediately after they were done with the photoshoot. His head was reeling with unanswered questions, and he was hoping to at least get some sort of enlightenment. A little assurance that he was not going crazy would be great as well.

He also decides to go by himself. He wanted a minute alone with his thoughts, and Sehun’s presence made it harder for him to think logically. It wasn’t that the teen was causing a fuss – it was the exact opposite, actually.

The boy was so well-behaved. He didn’t speak unless spoken to, always answered politely, and was absolutely no trouble at all. By the time they were done, he had Minseok eating from the palm of his hand.

He was worried, though, about leaving Sehun alone with Jongdae. When he voiced this to the young man, he half-expected him to be upset, but was once again proven wrong.

“I’ll still be here when you get back, papa,” Sehun says with a smile. “And I won’t tell Uncle Jongdae anything, I promise.”

But unfortunately, he didn’t come back with the results he expected. He made his way back to the office more confused and conflicted than ever, everything he found out from the police station playing like a broken record in his brain.

He had arrived there and went looking for his police officer friend Jongin. He wanted to be discrete. Going through the missing persons and juvenile list to look for your supposed future son was not something you should tell an officer if you didn’t want to be taken in for questioning.

He came up with a reason Jongin believes at least, but then again, Jongin had always been gullible – in a very, very endearing way. The officer had raised an eyebrow when Baekhyun told him he only had a first name, but Jongin just shrugged in the end and entered Sehun’s name into the police database search.

“Nope, none. No juvie records. Not in the missing persons’ list either. How old did you say the kid was?”

Shoot. Baekhyun had forgotten to ask Sehun.

“Around seventeen, eighteen, I guess?”

Jongin hums and types a few more things into the computer, but the screen still comes up blank.

“There is no record of a Sehun residing in this area, either. Where did you say he was from?”

Baekhyun recognized red flags, so he decides to stop there. “I think that will do for now, Jongin.”

The officer had offered to look into it further, even telling Baekhyun that he could call other stations to see if Sehun had a record there. Baekhyun had refused politely, thanked Jongin for his trouble, and left.

So now, here he was, back to square one.

At least he was sure Sehun wasn’t an axe murderer.

He sighs deeply as he reaches the door to Jongdae’s office, but the conversation he overhears makes him stop in his tracks. He listens in on his friend and Sehun’s conversation.

“You’re a natural at this. How did you end up having such a good eye for fashion?”

“I grew up watching my dad, so…”

“Really? Your parents seem to be really good people, the way you talk about them.”

“Oh, um… they are. They’re whipped for each other too, kinda like you and mister Minseok,” Sehun says with a chuckle. “I grew up in a loving home. I watch the two of them, and it makes me wish I find something like that too, you know, in the future.”

“That’s really sweet. You really adore them, huh? Where do I get a son like you?”

At this point, Baekhyun decides to make his presence known. He taps the door lightly with his knuckles, startling the two.

Sehun, however, breaks into a wide smile upon seeing him. It makes Baekhyun feel warm again.

“Hey, you guys ready to grab some lunch?” he asks.

“Minseok had to rush to another shoot, so it’s just going to be the three of us,” Jongdae tells him.

Baekhyun nods. “Let’s go.”

The three of them ended up in a quaint restaurant near Baekhyun’s office. Lunch was a pleasant affair, most of it spent with Jongdae gushing over Sehun’s photos, and him telling Baekhyun how the teen had helped him put together the first draft for their holiday collection.

“I mean, it’s crazy how the two of you are alike in so many ways. I guess it does run in the blood, huh?” his friend declares.

Baekhyun turns to look at Sehun, who now had his head down. He could see how the boy’s cheeks reddened at the praise. He couldn’t help the fond smile that graced his lips.

“I guess it does,” he says, almost to himself. But Sehun hears this, and his head perks up to look at Baekhyun. He maintains eye contact with him, and Baekhyun was almost sure the teen was tearing up.

He couldn’t confirm this though, because Sehun shakes his head lightly, as if waking up from a stupor and smiles warmly at him.

“We have a busy afternoon, though. So we should hurry,” Jongdae reminds him, and the moment is over.

“Sehun,” he says, realizing this is actually the first time he calls the boy by his name. “You might get bored in the office, so I’ll take you home after this, okay?”

Sehun nods, still looking a bit dazed.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asks, starting to get worried.

“Yes, pa – Yes. I’m alright.”

Baekhyun hums and gets back to finishing his food. They were done after a few minutes, and Jongdae excuses himself to go to the restroom while Baekhyun calls for the check.

“Can we please get some gelato?” Sehun says, eyes pleading. “We should also take some home for dad. What do you think, papa?”

How was Baekhyun going to say no to _that_ face?

“Sure. You want to eat yours here?”

“Yes, please,” the boy nods, eyes twinkling in delight.

Baekhyun gestures for Sehun to follow him to the front of the store where the ice cream display was.

“What would you like, sir?” the attendant asks them in greeting.

“I’ll have the strawberry and one of the chocolate mint ones, please,” he answers thinking of Jongdae, and then remembers remembers Sehun’s request. “Oh, and another pint of the strawberry to go.”

“Can we get dad’s favorite flavor instead, papa?” Sehun says from beside him.

“What do you mean? Your dad likes strawberry.”

Sehun shakes his head firmly. “ _You_ like strawberry. Dad likes mango. He only eats the strawberry ‘cause you like it.”

Baekhyun was left mum. How could he have forgotten?

“How about you, young man?” the attendant asks, oblivious to Baekhyun’s inner turmoil. “What will you have?”

“One scoop each of the strawberry and mango please, ma’am,” Sehun answers with a grin.

Baekhyun remained lost in his thoughts, even after the lady had finished scooping up their orders and placed them in the serving cups. She also hands Sehun the wrapped pint of ice cream for Chanyeol.

He only snapped out of it when he feels Sehun lightly tap his arm.

“Papa?”

“Yes?” he answers distractedly. Sehun’s smile grew wider.

“I’ll take this to our table. Uncle Dae’s back.”

Baekhyun nods without thinking about it, then turns to the store clerk. “Where do I pay? I already asked for our check earlier.”

“Oh, is that so? Over here please,” she answers with a pleasant smile.

Baekhyun watches thoughtlessly as she punches several keys on the register and tells him an amount. He fishes a few bills from his wallet and hands it over to her.

“Your son?” she asks, obviously talking about Sehun. “He’s very well-mannered. I wish my son was that polite. My boy can’t even say “please” to save his life. You must be proud.”

Baekhyun looks over to their table where Jongdae and Sehun were happily devouring the cold dessert. The delighted look on the teenager’s face makes him smile, yet again. He may not believe Sehun is his son, but he is somebody’s child. And without a doubt, any parent would be proud to have a kid like him.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “He’s a good kid. I’m lucky.”

Baekhyun drives himself and Sehun home after lunch. It was too quiet. The soft hum of the air conditioner and the car stereo turned to a dull volume was their background. Baekhyun’s head was whirring. Sehun was quick to catch on the situation, as he hasn’t said a word since they left the cafe and left the older man to his tangled mess of thoughts. Baekhyun was grateful for that.

It was a miracle that they hadn’t gotten into an accident yet. To say Baekhyun was distracted was an understatement. He was confused, distressed, and most of all disappointed with himself. He can’t believe it took a tub of mango-flavored ice cream to make him realize what had gone wrong with his relationship with Chanyeol.

He remembers what Sehun told him that morning: _‘You forgot about the little things.’_

Baekhyun hadn’t though much of that statement earlier, but now, it was like he got slapped in the face. He tries to look back and pinpoint when and where it had all gone wrong.

It hadn’t always been like this with Chanyeol. They used to be really affectionate. They were the kind of couple that made people cringe because of excessive displays of how in love they were with each other. That was why they got married in the first place.

They were each other’s first love, typical high school sweethearts who stayed together until college and eventually ended up tying the knot. They had their fights, sure – even broke up a couple of times, but they always found their way back to each other. They were supposed to be the perfect couple whose love story was the envy of others. They used to talk about how their future children and grandchildren will talk about them, aspire to have a love like theirs.

So how exactly did they fall apart?

The first few years of their marriage were blissful. Their honeymoon phase lasted for over a year and they were so ridiculously clingy, Jongdae would pretend to throw up every time they gathered together. The sex, god the sex was amazing. They couldn’t get enough of each other, it was like they were teenagers with raging hormones all over again.

This year was supposed to be the fifth year of their marriage. It was only until the last year that things started getting cold between them. Baekhyun’s two year-old company was finally getting noticed by the public and...

An overwhelming sense of dread came over him as he unearths the answer to his question. Several scenarios flash in his mind all at once, like a montage.

Baekhyun leaving in a hurry every morning, disregarding the breakfast his husband diligently wakes up for and prepares for him; at first it happened once a week. Then it happened twice, then four times, until he ignored and forgot about it altogether.

He remembers the times he cancelled on date nights because things got hectic at work and he simply couldn’t make it. He felt bad the first time, but didn’t think too much of it the next couple of times – all because Chanyeol never berated him for it.

He also recalls the first time one of Chanyeol’s produced songs was chosen by a really famous idol group. His husband had been ecstatic. They had promised to watch the song’s debut on a music show together. But Baekhyun had cancelled the last minute, because there was a problem with one of their production factories. It was a very important milestone in Chanyeol’s career, and he missed it.

The worst thing was he never heard his husband complain. Not even once.

Suddenly, there was an endless list: burned out candles from the last anniversary dinner Chanyeol cooked for them that got cold and thrown away because he didn’t make it, album launches that he missed, good morning kisses he had forgotten to give, sick days he wasn’t there to take care of his husband, ‘I love yous’ he wanted to say but didn’t.

Baekhyun’s vision gets clouded by tears and he abruptly hits the brakes in fear of hitting something. The car comes to a halt, making Sehun gasp from beside him. Baekhyun feels his chest constrict as he finally gives in to the onslaught of emotions that overcome him. He slumps on the steering wheel and weeps, uncontrolled sobs spilling from his lips.

“Papa? What’s wrong? Are you hurt anywhere?” Sehun asks, panic evident in his voice.

Baekhyun tries to tell the boy that he is fine and that he doesn’t need to worry about his unexpected breakdown, but his words come out in the form of a desperate whimper.

“Oh, papa,” Sehun exclaims. Without another word, the teen gathers the sobbing Baekhyun into his arms and cradles the older’s head on his chest. It was weird to be comforted by a teenager of all people, but Baekhyun decides he doesn’t hate it. His hands clutch at Sehun’s shirt in a resolute effort to get ahold of himself.

“It’s okay, papa,” Sehun says to him over and over. “Everything’s going to be alright. You’ll see.”

How long he stays there crying in Sehun’s arms, Baekhyun doesn’t know. But the tears finally did stop, and Baekhyun struggles to hide his embarrassment at being caught in such a weak moment by this boy he only met that morning.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” he says, not able to meet Sehun’s eyes.

Sehun simply shakes his head and smiles kindly. “It doesn’t matter, papa. I don’t mind. Are you feeling better now?”

“I- Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Okay.”

Sehun doesn’t ask him why he had a breakdown in the middle of the day, but does make sure he is all right to drive. Baekhyun assures him that he was capable of taking them back home in one piece, so they set off.

Baekhyun parks the car in their driveway, since he has to leave again anyway. But he does get out of the car with Sehun, contrary to his initial plan of just dropping the teen off.

They find Chanyeol in the kitchen fixing himself his own lunch. Baekhyun looks at his wristwatch. It was almost two in the afternoon, and Chanyeol is only eating now. How long has it been since he last made sure his husband ate on time?

Baekhyun castigates himself further at the thought.

Chanyeol looks up from the sandwich he’s putting together, obviously not expecting the two of them home this soon.

“Did something happen?” his husband asks worriedly.

Baekhyun was quick to shake his head no. “I’m just dropping Sehun off. I’m going to be really busy in the next couple of hours, so he might get bored in the office.”

Chanyeol contemplates this for a moment and it occurs to Baekhyun that he isn’t giving his husband a choice in the matter.

‘ _You’re doing it again,’_ he scolds himself internally.

“Is that okay? I mean, I can take him back with me if you’re busy,” Baekhyun hurriedly adds before Chanyeol can take offense at his imposition.

“Oh, no, no. Of course I don’t mind,” Chanyeol responds just as fast. “It’s just… You two seem to be getting along. Well, better than this morning.”

He exchanges a quick glance with Sehun and turns back to his husband. “He’s alright, I guess.”

“Not a serial killer then?” Chanyeol asks in jest, making Baekhyun smile.

“No. I think he can barely harm a fly.”

“Hey!” Sehun says in mock offense, a silly grin on his face. Then his face lights up as he holds out the bag in his hands and shoves it into Chanyeol’s arms.

“Papa brought you your favorite ice cream, dad!”

“O-Oh. Uh, w-wow. I’ve been craving for some straw-”

Chanyeol stops mid-speech as he opens the bag and sees what was inside. “This is...”

For some reason, Baekhyun feels so embarrassed, he could feel the heat creeping up from his neck to his face. He decides to leave before he makes a bigger fool of himself.

“I should go. Jongdae’s already spamming me with calls,” he says in a small voice. He was about to turn and leave when he remembers the morning’s events. He hesitates, but later decides to act on impulse.

With a stroke of courage he didn’t know where he got from, Baekhyun strides towards Chanyeol. He hears his husband’s sharp intake of breath as he lays his hands on the taller’s shoulders, stands on tiptoes and places a kiss on Chanyeol’s unsuspecting lips.

“Enjoy your ice cream,” he almost whispers and hurriedly leaves, blushing to his roots.

A smile blooms on his face as he starts his car and drives away. He was going to make things right with his husband, no matter what it takes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sehun spends time with dad next!
> 
> Thank you for all the love you gave the last chapter. It is heart-warming and motivating. I hope you liked this too.
> 
> See you on the next one! 
> 
> Updates are gradually posted on the twitter version, and are compiled before posting the whole chapter here. So, you can follow the thread over there if you want to read what happens next sooner. ^____^
> 
> Let's be friends! I'm @neezwritesexo on Twitter.


	3. THREE

Chanyeol startles as Sehun’s hand grasp his. The two were seated on bar stools by the kitchen counter as Chanyeol attempted to scruff down his lunch and the teen was quietly enjoying his second scoop of ice cream for the day.

“Uhm, dad? Are you okay?” Sehun asks, eyes alarmed.

“Huh?” he asks back distractedly.

“You were about to put mustard in your ice cream,” Sehun answers as his eyes drift to Chanyeol’s hand that he was still holding. Apparently, Chanyeol had _really_ been about to squeeze mustard into the dessert he had scooped up in a bowl.

He puts down the offensive condiment and glares at the bottle. Sehun lets him go.

“I like mustard,” he says in an attempt to explain his behavior.

Sehun stares, unblinking. “Not on ice cream. Are you feeling okay? You look a little flushed.”

Chanyeol’s hands automatically come up to both his cheeks and feels warmth seeping through his palms. Baekhyun had left a few minutes ago, but his head was still reeling. His heart had been beating so fast ever since _that_ kiss, and it hasn’t shown signs of slowing down yet.

Why in the world was he acting like a teenager with a serious high school crush? Baekhyun was his husband - well soon-to-be ex-husband - for crying out loud. They had done far worse than chaste kisses on the lips.

Chanyeol sighs and palms his face in a poor attempt to keep his expression controlled.

“Did something happen today?” he asks Sehun. “Baekhyun’s acting really strange.”

“How so?” the teen asks with furrowed brows.

“This, for one,” he says pointing to the ice cream. “And you know… that.”

He blushes instantly as he remembers the _surprise_ he got. His lips were tingling from that brief contact. Really, what was up with him?

Sehun, however, is failing to see what the issue was. “Buying ice cream and a goodbye kiss is unusual behavior from a husband?”

Chanyeol groans inwardly. What was he expecting from a teenager? Sehun definitely did not need to know that goodbye kisses or any kind of kiss for that matter was not a normal occurrence in this household. Well, not for quite some time, anyway.

“Forget I said anything.”

To his relief, Sehun merely shrugs and doesn’t press further. He asks another question, though.

“Aren’t you going to the studio today?”

Chanyeol’s principles in life are fairly simple. One of them was not to question things you can’t explain and stress over circumstances you have no control over. So, if he was taken aback by Sehun knowing what he does for a living without him telling the boy, he lets it go.

Instead, he answers as naturally as he can, like the two of them have this conversation every day.

“I have to finish an initial demo before I bring it in for full production. I’ll do it in the basement,” he says, referring to his converted home studio. He usually does the all his composing and pre-production work there.

“Is it for another idol group?”

“Potentially,” he says as he brushes the crumbs off his shirt and carries his plate to the sink.

Sehun does the same and follows behind him. “Cool. I hope you get it.”

“Me too.”

“You always do, dad,” Sehun says with a bright smile that Chanyeol can’t help but reciprocate. “You’re the best.”

Chanyeol shakes his head in disagreement. “I wasn’t always. There was a time when I didn’t make a dime. All I had was passion and a lot of debt.”

“But look at where you are now,” Sehun comments, the smile on his face never wavering.

Chanyeol shrugs noncommittally. “I guess.”

It was true that his dreams were almost within his reach. But what he had lost in the process was something no amount of success can equate to. Baekhyun.

“I’ll do the dishes, dad. You should go back to work,” Sehun adds, interrupting his inner monologue.

“Uh, thanks,” he says, still distracted. He was about to leave, but decides against it and turns back to the Sehun again. “Did you want to come with me to the basement?”

“I can?” Sehun perks up instantly, not bothering to hide his excitement.

Chanyeol chuckles. “Sure. If that’s something you wanna do? You might get bored.”

The teen shakes his head almost violently. “No way! I won’t be any trouble, I promise.”

“Alright,” Chanyeol nods. “Just head down when you’re done here. Just take-“

“The stairs beside the bathroom,” Sehun finishes for him.

“How did you-“ Chanyeol begins, but halts with an amused grin. Unexplainable. Right. “Nevermind.”

“I’ll be right down!” Sehun says enthusiastically and goes back to his chore.

Chanyeol was in a good mood in the next few hours he spends with Sehun in his home studio. Just as he promised, the teen was no trouble at all, even managing to pitch-in some of his inputs which have proved to be valuable. Sehun had told him that this was the genre of music he prefers and Chanyeol for some reason was pleased to know that they had similar tastes.

He was in the process of putting the finishing touches on his demo, when Sehun asked if he could take a look around the studio. Chanyeol nods, thinking that it was no cause for concern. The room was quiet for a while, with him being solely focused on getting his work done and Sehun tinkering with stuff inside the studio that was of interest to him.

“This one’s good, dad,” Sehun suddenly comments, grabbing Chanyeol’s attention.

“Huh, what?” he answers distractedly, not taking his eyes off the computer screen. “Hold on one second.”

Chanyeol enters a few combinations on the keyboard and finally stretches. He swivels his chair around and finds Sehun intently looking at a music sheet he has pinned on the cork board. Immediately, Chanyeol recognizes what has caught Sehun’s attention. It was one of his _forgotten_ projects. It should have been in one of the storage boxes, hidden and never to see the light of day.

“What’s the title of this one?” Sehun asks again, oblivious to Chanyeol’s sudden change in mood.

“Oh, _that_. That’s... um, unfinished.”

To his utter despair, Sehun even reads the lyrics he had written a long, long time ago. Well, not _that_ long, but with all that’s happened since then, Chanyeol feels like a decade had already passed.

_“When I look at the stars shining brightly_

_It almost feels like I’m looking at you_

_You’re like everything that shines bright_

_When the night sky grows dark_

_The whole world is sparkled with light.”_

Sehun turns to him, eyes bright with excitement and admiration. “These lyrics are amazing. They’re so good. Why didn’t you finish this?”

“I just... Didn’t feel like it anymore.”

What Chanyeol doesn’t tell Sehun was that any inspiration he had when he first started writing this song had already disappeared. Chanyeol had lost his muse, and in effect, lost any motivation to continue. Sehun, nevertheless, sees right through him in ways Chanyeol didn’t think possible.

“It’s for papa... Right?”

The question throws him terribly off guard. “What makes you think so?”

“It’s these lyrics. I just feel like you’re describing papa. How bright his smiles are, how he gives light to your life. You always told me he’s like your own personal north star, illuminating the darkest of your nights,” Sehun replies, cringing at the last sentence. Then, his face turns apprehensive as he carefully asks again, “It was the sappiest thing I heard, but... am I wrong?”

Chanyeol sighs. There was no use in lying. “No. You’re not.”

“Sorry, dad,” Sehun says apologetically when he notices how somber Chanyeol suddenly looked. “I shouldn’t have said anything. My mouth has no filter, sometimes.”

Chanyeol dismissed Sehun’s apology with a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

He doesn’t need to be cross with Sehun. The teenager didn’t do anything to ruin his and Baekhyun’s relationship in the first place. Chanyeol did it all by himself.

The beginning of their marriage wasn’t exactly smooth-sailing. Although they had no problems with each other, there were external factors involved - some, they have no control over. For one, Chanyeol was a struggling music producer back then. He wasn’t kidding when he told Sehun all he had was passion and a lot of debt when he married Baekhyun. But Baekhyun loved him and that was enough. Or so he thought.

To make ends meet, Baekhyun started working an eight-to-five office job that took most of his weekdays, as Chanyeol struggles to find ways to get his music out and make a living. He started singing in bars, open mics, even busking, but nothing worked. His gigs were enough to put maybe a week’s worth of groceries on the table and nothing more. Baekhyun, being the supportive husband that he is encouraged Chanyeol to continue writing music, and just stay at home in between his jobs.

For the first few years, it was okay. They weren’t wealthy, but they were getting by. Then, just a little after their third anniversary, Baekhyun came up with the idea of building his own company. Chanyeol wanted to give his husband the same amount of support he gave him, and so he did his best to make sure Baekhyun didn’t have to worry about anything but his new project.

Chanyeol eventually cut his gigs short, only choosing the ones that paid well so that he could have more time to take care of Baekhyun at home. It was like they were honeymooning again, being cooped up in that one-bedroom apartment they used to rent. It was all hearts and rainbows, until Baekhyun’s company took off.

Make no mistake, Chanyeol was thrilled for his husband. He was the first one to celebrate with Baekhyun. He still vividly recalls the fancy dinner he had setup and the amazing, mind-blowing sex that followed.

It was easy for Chanyeol to stay in the sidelines and let his husband take the spotlight. It was because of Baekhyun that they were able to move into a bigger house, and live more comfortably.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he had already started feeling insecure. There were times that he questioned his role in Baekhyun’s life. His husband could clearly manage by himself, and he wonders why Baekhyun still chooses to be with him. Chanyeol felt so useless and so ashamed of himself for failing Baekhyun.

Months passed and Chanyeol finally got a break when one of his songs got hand-picked by a rising idol group. From there, his career also took off and he started getting projects left and right. As their bank account grew, the fire in their relationship started to dwindle until it was nothing but a flicker.

Baekhyun got busier, and so did he. When Chanyeol realized that they were spending less and less time with each other, he decided to build his home studio. That way, he could spend more time at their new home, just like the old times.

But things didn’t go as he planned. Baekhyun had been more absent than before, their interactions reduced to mere “good mornings” and “good nights”. His efforts had gone unnoticed, but he couldn’t find it in himself to get angry and blame his husband. It was his incompetence that led them here, after all. Chanyeol let his insecurities eat him up, swallow him whole and spit him out like he was some piece of unwanted trash.

Baekhyun stopped caring, so Chanyeol decided to stop trying, too. He was tired. He gave up. So, when Baekhyun suggested divorce, Chanyeol agreed. He thinks that Baekhyun had finally realized he was better off without him.

If a divorce would make Baekhyun happy, Chanyeol would give it to him. He just has to learn to live without his light.

“I have an idea,” Sehun suddenly says, making Chanyeol jump. He was so deep in his thoughts he forgot he wasn’t alone. He schools his expression into something he hopes was nonchalant and gives the teen an inquiring look.

“Why don’t we cook for papa?”

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at this. “We?”

“I’ll help you, of course!”

“Uh-huh,” he answers non-commitally. For some reason, he doesn’t see Sehun as somebody helpful in the kitchen. A lot like _someone_ he knows.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he adds. “Your papa - I mean Baekhyun - and I haven’t had dinner together in a while.”

_Or eaten together, for that matter._

“Well, why don’t we give him a call to find out?” Sehun suggests with a hopeful smile.

Chanyeol grits his teeth, refusing to give in. The look the boy give him is unwittingly making it hard for him say no; probably because it looked oddly familiar.

“I don’t want to bother him. I’m sure he’s really busy.”

He should have known Sehun would be stubborn. He squares his shoulders and holds out his hand, with a determined expression. Again, Chanyeol feels a sense if familiarity that gives him slight chills.

“Let me borrow your phone. I’ll talk to him.”

“Fine,” he concedes and picks his phone up from the table.

He hits speed dial number one and Baekhyun’s name immediately comes up on the screen. He puts the phone on speaker and waits for the call to connect. Chanyeol was half-expecting that he would need to call again or be sent to voicemail. Color him surprised when Baekhyun picks up on the second ring.

“Chanyeol? What’s wrong? Are you two okay?”

Even from the receiver, one couldn’t mistake the worry laced on Bakhyun’s voice. Chanyeol’s brows furrow in confusion.

“Uhm, we’re okay,” he replies and looks over to Sehun who was sporting the same confused look as him.

Baekhyun sighs heavily. Chanyeol could almost see him clutching his chest. “Oh, thank goodness. You scared me there.”

“Why?” he asks, not able to help himself.

“Huh? Oh! It’s just... You never really call me anymore, not even when you were running a really high fever, it just took me by surprise.”

“Ah,” he answers lamely. What else was he supposed to reply to that?

There was a few seconds of dead air. When Chanyeol looks at Sehun again, the teen looked amused as he listens in on their conversation. He looked like he was trying really hard no to laugh. Thankfully, Baekhyun decides to break the silence.

“So... What’s the reason you called?”

Chanyeol then remembers the _real_ purpose of this call. “Sehun wanted to talk to you.”

He brings the phone closer to Sehun so that Baekhyun can hear him better.

“Hey, papa,” Sehun greets eagerly.

“Hi. You’re not giving your dad any trouble, are you?”

Baekhyun’s response takes Chanyeol aback. Something definitely happened when the two were in the former’s office. His husband doesn’t even tell Sehun off for calling him “papa” anymore. Just what the hell was going on?

“I am offended, papa,” Sehun answers in mock offence. The ear-splitting grin on his face was a dead giveaway. “I’m as well-behaved here as I was when I was there.”

Baekhyun chuckles from the other line and Chanyeol just melts. He hasn’t heard his husband laugh in so long. His chest suddenly felt so tight and he feels his eyes water. What was wrong with him today?

He looks away from Sehun’s prying eyes and furiously blinks back the tears that are threatening to spill. He takes a deep breath and knocks on his chest to get his bearings back.

“Alright, alright. I believe you,” he hears Baekhyun say, tone so bright it makes even Sehun smile. “Did you need anything?”

“You’re eating dinner here tonight, right?” Sehun asks without missing a beat as Chanyeol holds his breath and prepares for rejection.

“Sure.”

That one word was all it took for him to lose his cool.

“Really?” Chanyeol blurts, skeptical.

“Yup,” Baekhyun answers at once, unaware of the effect it has on him. “Jongdae and I will finish up a little early today so I’ll just head home right away.”

Chanyeol gapes, not actually believing this was happening.

“That’s great, papa!” Sehun answers when he remains at a loss for words. “Dad and I are cooking tonight!”

“You are?” Baekhyun says excitedly and Chanyeol _hopes_. He shouldn’t but he does.

“I’ll look forward to it then. I think I’ll get home after eight, so I won’t be of any help in making dinner,” his husband adds.

Chanyeol hears genuine regret in his voice and the spark of hope that he sees in his head glows a little brighter.

Sehun was about to reply, thinking Chanyeol was still “distracted”, but he stops the teen and responds to Baekhyun himself.

“That’s totally okay!” he says, not caring if he sounded too eager. “Just... As long as you get home safely.”

Baekhyun hums and Chanyeol wonders how his husband must look at that very moment. “Alright, then. I’ll see you two later.”

“Bye, papa! Don’t work too hard!” Sehun adds.

Baekhyun laughs again. Chanyeol wishes he had his recorder on him. “I don’t think that’s possible, Sehun. But I will try. Have fun with Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol bids his husband goodbye and hangs up with a dazed look on his face. The grip on his phone tightens as he convinces himself that the call _certainly_ happened and it wasn’t just in his head.

“Dad?” Sehun says, waving his hand in front of Chanyeol’s face to get his attention.

“Huh?”

Sehun giggles at his bewilderment. Chanyeol blinks, still unfocused. “You look really funny.”

He frowns and playfully flicks the teen on the forehead. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Grocery shopping,” Chanyeol answers as he leads the way out of the basement studio. “We need to make your papa something delicious.”

His blood was humming with excitement. This would be the first time in so long that Baekhyun would be having Chanyeol’s food. He’d be a fool it he didn’t make it the best meal he’s cooked in his in entire life.

Melodious laughter is what welcomes Baekhyun the moment he steps into the house. He chews on his bottom lip as he hears his husband's overly-enthusiastic laughter. He had missed it very, very much. He follows the sounds to the kitchen where he finds Chanyeol and Sehun bent over the counter, playfully arguing about something. They had their backs to him, so they were unaware of his presence.

"What do you mean? It tastes fine, dad!" Sehun argues and stomps his foot a little.

Chanyeol doubles over in laughter, holding on to Sehun's left shoulder as he struggles to right himself. He straightens and catches his breath after a few seconds and turns to Sehun with a serious look on his face.

"It certainly does not taste _fine._ I'm sorry, Sehun. The least that could happen is you get sued if you let anyone drink this. It's _awful._ "

Sehun sulks instantly and crosses his arms over his chest. "You're so mean, dad."

Chanyeol chuckles some more and playfully ruffles Sehun's hair. "I'm just looking out for you, bud. I don't want you ending up in jail for trying to poison someone."

Sehun's pout grows more pronounced, it was adorable. Baekhyun decides it was time to make his presence know. He clears his throat loudly, making the two instantly whip their heads to look at his direction.

"You two seem to be having fun," he comments brightly as he makes his way over to the counter.

"If what you mean by "fun" is having Sehun try to kill me, then sure," Chanyeol answers cheekily, earning him a displeased whine from the teen.

"Papa, dad's being an ass."

"Language, young man," Baekhyun scolds, albeit lightly. Sehun makes a peace sign as Chanyeol flicks him gently on one ear.

"Anyway, you wanna try Sehun's bubble tea recipe?" Chanyeol says and offers him a glass with odd-colored liquid in it. "It tastes like expired medicine, but maybe that's just me."

Baekhyun wanted to refuse, he really did. But one look at Sehun's moping face made him change his mind. He takes the glass from Chanyeol and sips tentatively. The peculiar taste hits his tongue and it takes all of his willpower not to wince.

"Well?" Chanyeol inquires as he hands him back the glass.

"It's... um... exotic?" he offers as Chanyeol breaks into loud guffaws once more.

Baekhyun glances at Sehun, ready to apologize. But instead of looking dejected, the teen was smiling fondly.

"At least you didn't hate it," Sehun says and looks at Chanyeol with faux annoyance. "Papa is my favorite, now."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Chanyeol complains. Sehun merely sticks his tongue out at the older. Then, he walks over to Baekhyun and takes his bag from him.

"Do you want me to take this upstairs, papa?"

Baekhyun was about to tell Sehun that he had to go up to change himself, but stops when he remembers the _matter_ that had been bothering him on the whole drive home. He needed Sehun out of the room to speak to Chanyeol alone, and he saw this chance.

"Yes, please," he answers. "You can just leave it on my study table."

Sehun nods and turns to leave.

"I'll set the table when I get back, dad!" he calls back from the living room a few seconds later.

Baekhyun doesn't even notice that Sehun didn't need to ask him where his room was. He figures he has maybe two minutes before the teen comes back. He needed to settle things with Chanyeol - and fast.

"Chanyeol," he calls. His husband looks up from the pot he was stirring and meets his eyes. Baekhyun immediately shrinks back. _How does he start?_

"What's up?" Chanyeol questions when he remains silent after a few beats of silence.

"You need to move back into the master's bedroom," he blurts out without thinking.

He half-expected Chanyeol to find the idea ridiculous, or worse - he had pictured him mocking him and laughing in his face. It was after all, Baekhyun's idea that they room separately when their marriage started falling apart. Sleeping on the same bed was just pure torture when he knew his husband was repulsed by him.

To his utter surprise, Chanyeol merely nodded.

"I was thinking the same thing," his husband answers. "I'm- I'm actually glad you brought it up. I was hesitant... I didn't think you'd want to... Again..."

He watches in awe as a furious blush crept from Chanyeol's neck, his cheeks, and finally the tips of his adorable ears. Baekhyun bites his lower lip to suppress a giggle. Chanyeol, upon noticing that he had made a fool of himself, quickly looks away.

"I mean, we wouldn't want Sehun sleeping in the living room," Chanyeol mutters under his breath, while absentmindedly stirring the stew simmering on the stove. "I heard it's gonna be really cold tonight."

It was Baekhyun's turn to blush. He had a flashback of their "cold winter nights" in the past. Chanyeol had always found a way to _warm_ him up.

"I'm back!" Sehun calls, interrupting his reverie. "I'll go set the table now - why are you both so red in the face?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics were taken from the English translation of "With You (가끔)" by EXO
> 
> Let's be friends! I'm @neezwritesexo on Twitter.


	4. FOUR

Dinner would have been an awkward, unbearable mess, if not for Sehun. For the life of him, words failed Chanyeol as soon as he sat across his husband on the dining table. The last time they attempted to have dinner together, Baekhyun had run off in the middle of his slurping down his pasta to attend to a production mishap — for the third consecutive time that week.

Chanyeol didn’t try again. The disappointment was too much for him. He decides to leave the self-pity-party for later and tries to focus his attention on Sehun who was talking Baekhyun’s ear off about his afternoon with Chanyeol.

“... and then Dad finished this demo, it sounded so good! The studio has some super cool equipment, dad even let me tinker with some of them! Dad makes the best songs, don’t you think so papa?”

Baekyun sputters a little at the question as the tips of Chanyeol’s ears redden. His husband smiles and nods. “He is talented.”

“There’s even this unfinished—“

Chanyeol kicks Sehun lightly from under the table, interrupting his statement. It was a good thing the teen was sitting next to him. Sehun turns to look at him and Chanyeol widens his eyes a little and hopes that he got his message across. A look of understanding crosses the boy’s face as he smiles sheepishly.

“Anyways, it was really cool!” Sehun steers, and Chanyeol releases the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

Baekhyun chuckles good-naturedly. “I know. You said that already.”

“Have you been down there, papa?”

Baekhyun exchanges a look with Chanyeol, red coloring his cheeks. Chanyeol swallows nervously. Was Baekhyun also thinking of _that_ time?

Chanyeol’s studio was pretty much sound-proof. He and Baekhyun had a lot of _fun_ down there, once upon a time. They could make all the noise they wanted without anybody else hearing and they took advantage of that. _Every time_.

At the thought, his throat suddenly felt dry, Chanyeol had to cough. He reaches for his glass and takes a sip of water, all the while locking eyes with Baekhyun. His husband copies his actions and Chanyeol wonders what was going on in his head.

“Uh… Y-yeah…” Baekhyun answers and finally looks away. “A couple of times.”

‘ _A couple of memorable times_ ’, Chanyeol thinks.

“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” Sehun asks again.

“Uh, yes. Fascinating. Right,” his husband answers, rather distractedly. Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. “Uhm, Sehun.”

“Yes, papa?”

“About your sleeping arrangements.”

Chanyeol grits his teeth to keep himself from smiling. That abrupt change in topic wasn’t too smooth. But then again, subtlety wasn’t one of Baekhyun’s strong points.

“Oh! Um… If it isn’t too much trouble, could you just lend me an extra blanket?”

He and Baekhyun wore identical faces of confusion at the Sehun’s answer.

“It’s warm enough in the guest room,” Baekhyun supplies anyway.

“The guest room?” Sehun asks, now confused as well. The three of them must make quite a sight. “There’s no need for that, papa. I’m fine on the couch.”

“The heating system doesn’t include the living room,” Baekhyun explains patiently. “You’ll get cold. It’s almost winter.”

“Uh… Isn’t dad using the guest room?”

Baekhyun whips his head at his direction and gives him an alarmed expression. Chanyeol was pretty sure he looked the same. They both forgot they were dealing with a teenager, not a kid. Sehun was probably more insightful than they thought.

“Look, I’m not totally clueless. I know you guys aren’t really… okay,” Sehun says solemnly, trailing off at the last word. “The last thing I want to do is intrude or make you feel uncomfortable.”

For Chanyeol, there was no room for argument.

“You’re sleeping in the guest room,” he says firmly. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

“But where will you sleep?”

“Oh, um… I’ll—“ Chanyeol begins, not knowing how to answer. He and Baekhyun hadn’t agreed to anything yet. Their conversation in the kitchen was cut short upon Sehun’s arrival.

“How about we just share the bed, dad?” Sehun says brightly. “It’s big enough, isn’t it? I promise I don’t snore!”

“S-sure…” Chanyeol answers without thinking. The hopeful look Sehun was giving him was hard to say no to. “Okay, let’s do that.”

Chanyeol glances at Baekhyun and he sees a look of disappointment cross his husband’s face for a split second — but it was gone too soon. When he blinks, Baekhyun looked passive, not giving anything away. Chanyeol thinks he might have imagined it.

Why would Baekhyun even be disappointed anyway?

Sehun doesn’t snore. He does however, hog not only the blankets but the bed. Chanyeol had been pushed almost to the edge. He endures for a few more minutes, before he sighs and gives up. Chanyeol extracts himself from the mattress and gives the sleeping teenager a glance.

Sehun was spread like a starfish, his mouth slightly open in deep slumber. Chanyeol doesn’t understand why instead of being annoyed, he finds the sight endearing. He fixes the blanket on Sehun’s body, and smiles fondly.

Chanyeol usually sleeps without a shirt on, no matter the weather. He gets hot easily, and the heater in the guest bedroom was solely for Sehun’s benefit. But since he figures he’ll be sleeping on the living room couch, where it was much colder, clothing was required. He pulls a shirt out of his closet and grabs a spare blanket while he’s at it. He closes the door as quietly as he can behind him and makes his way downstairs.

He heads straight to the living room, intending to crash on the couch immediately. He passes by the dining room on his way there, almost dragging his feet while walking. He was so tired.

A sudden thud from the island separating the kitchen and the dining room makes him halt on his tracks. Chanyeol turns abruptly, hands on his chest. He finds Baekhyun about to sit on a bar stool, spoon on his hand, looking the very unaffected, while Chanyeol’s heart threatens to spill from his ribcage.

“Jesus, you scared me!”

“You’re such a baby,” Baekhyun scoffs and gestures the open container in front of him. “Ice cream?”

“Sure.”

Chanyeol walks over to the counter and stops a couple of few feet away from the bar stools. He waits for Baekhyun to come back from the kitchen with another bowl and spoon for him. His husband eyes the blanket clutched to his chest.

“What’s that?”

“Uhm… I was going to sleep here…” Chanyeol answers timidly.

“Why?” Baekhyun asks with so much indifference that makes Chanyeol confused. “You were so _thrilled_ to room with Sehun.”

Chanyeol doesn’t move from the his spot. Not even when Baekhyun pushes the other bowl in his direction and starts digging into his own serving of ice cream. Chanyeol feels like he was in an old crime movie. The kind where a spotlight is pointed at a criminal while being interrogated. He was the criminal, of course.

“He’s an active sleeper. I think he plays soccer in his sleep or something. He needs a whole bed to himself.”

“So you’re sleeping on the couch?” Baekhyun questions again, staring him down this time.

Chanyeol was trying not to stutter. He was obviously failing. “Uh, yes.”

“Weren’t you the one who said it was cold in here?”

“I don’t get cold easily. You know that.”

Baekhyun huffs, shrugs his shoulders and goes back to eating. “Suit yourself.”

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol inquires hesitantly. Something wasn’t right.

“Of course I am. Why do you ask?”

“You sound annoyed about something.”

“I’m not,” Baekhyun answers without looking at him. “Put the blanket down and eat your ice cream.”

Well, that was the end of that discussion. He figures he wouldn’t get any more out of the other man, so he sighs resigned and walks back to the couch. Rather than just dumping the blanket on it, he decides to make his “bed” so all he has to do is lie down later.

Or maybe he was just stalling. He still feels awkward around Baekhyun.

Feeling awkward around his own husband. How sad is that?

He bends to arrange the pillows. When he straightens, Chanyeol feels a crick on his lower back. There was a soft snapping sound that catches him off guard. He couldn’t help the yelp of pain that followed.

“Ow.”

Baekhyun, who must have heard, was suddenly beside him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he answers, still wincing. “I’m fine.”

“Chanyeol…” Baekhyun says, clear warning in his tone.

He sighs and rubs the spot. “It’s my back. I might have strained it while I was trying to sleep.”

_And dodge Sehun’s kicks._

Chanyeol had suffered an injury from playing basketball when he was still in university. After he healed, he was still able to play, but the pain had become chronic. His doctor didn’t see the need for further surgery, but did advise him not to put any strain to his back if he can.

He usually makes good on the instruction, but it was unavoidable at times, especially when he spends hours not moving from his chair in the studio. He was supposed to do stretches and stuff, but without Baekhyun nagging him for it, he was a hopeless case.

Chanyeol hears Baekhyun tut disapprovingly. “And you’re still going to sleep on the couch?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You hate the idea of sleeping on the same bed with me that much?”

Chanyeol hears the acid drip from Baekhyun’s voice. The accusation rattles him to the core. He spins on his heels to look at Baekhyun incredulously.

“What? Of course not!”

“Well, you have a really funny way of showing it.”

Chanyeol didn’t have an answer to that. He averts his gaze and starts playing with his hands. He struggles to form the words to tell Baekhyun what was going on his head. Words that would actually make sense.

“I just didn’t— I wasn’t sure if—“

He evidently fails. He closes his mouth shut, disappointed with himself. When had he lost the ability to communicate?

He desperately wanted to tell Baekhyun that he was hesitant because Chanyeol didn’t want to make him feel that he was _obliged_ to be with him; that he couldn’t bear to see Baekhyun’s disappointment when he wakes up next to him in the morning; that Chanyeol’s insecurities were still eating him up.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun calls. He was silent for too long, it seems. “I was the one who offered. You rejected that offer.”

Baekhyun sighs deeply and runs his hands through his hair. “I mean, I get it. You must really hate me. You don’t have to make excuses.”

“Baekhyun—“

“I think I’ve had enough ice cream for today,” Baekhyun interrupts before he could even get a word out.

He watches wordlessly, as his husband picks up his bowl from the counter and dumps it on the sink. With a soft “Good night, Chanyeol”, Baekhyun heads upstairs.

He was left alone again. His ice cream was still on the counter, left untouched — probably already melted. Something snaps in him, but Chanyeol refuses to spend more time pondering over what exactly that was.

For now, he acts.

Baekhyun was just about to open the door to the master’s bedroom a sudden noise from behind him makes him halt. He sees Chanyeol running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He was beside Baekhyun in the blink of an eye. Chanyeol was already reaching for the doorknob before Baekhyun could stop him. He twists it open and enters the room. Once inside, Chanyeol goes straight to the bed, peels off the covers and slips under them.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun demands with a glare as Chanyeol tries to get comfortable.

“Trying to prove a point,” his husband declares and proceeds to lie on his side with the comforter bunched around his waist.

_What?_

Baekhyun makes a sound of indignation that gets ignored by the other man. To hell with Chanyeol and his mood swings. He was so tired, he just wanted to sleep.

“Whatever.”

He moves to his side of the bed and turns off his lamp. Chanyeol prefers to keep his side lit, it had been like that for as long as he could remember. But after sleeping with all the lights off for the past few months, this new setup would take some time to get used to.

Baekhyun’s sighs softly as his back hits the mattress. He convinces himself this was no big deal. He had slept with Chanyeol before, both literally and figuratively. The king-sized bed was wide enough, he wouldn’t be crowding his husband’s personal space.

Baekhyun was a light sleeper. The slightest movements tend to rouse him. It wasn’t an issue for them before. Chanyeol just had to make sure Baekhyun was warm and comfy - usually cocooned in his arms, or his little spoon.

So it was understandable that without the warmth of his personal human heater, Baekhyun’s senses were on high alert. He feels the bed dip as Chanyeol shifts sleeping positions repeatedly. Baekhyun had a keen idea as to what was keeping the other man from completely drifting off.

“You can take your shirt off,” he says before he could think twice about it.

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol answers, voice almost a whisper. “Go back to sleep.”

Baekhyun rolls over so that he mimics Chanyeol’s position. They were both on their backs, eyes trained on the ceiling rather than on each other.

“The heater’s on full blast,” Baekhyun warns. “You’re going to be sweating buckets, or worse, you won’t get any sleep at all.”

“I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

This was some weird pillow talk. How far they had both come. It was almost funny, if it wasn’t so pathetic.

He rolls his eyes at the little chandelier above the bed. “Chanyeol, I’ve already seen everything.”

“Well, you’ve done more than just look.”

_Teasing, huh? Teasing, he can handle_.

“Cocky bastard,” Baekhyun mutters, but still loud enough for Chanyeol to hear. “Just take your shirt off already!”

“Geesh, Baek. No need to get so aggressive.”

“Idiot,” he fires back, his tone lacking venom that should have come with the word. “Maybe you just want me to do it for you.”

He throws Chanyeol a naughty smirk. It was comical, how after he said that, Chanyeol scrambles to a sitting position. Baekhyun doesn’t miss the wince that came with the sudden movement, but quickly looks away as Chanyeol pulls his shirt over his head, and throws it somewhere in the room. He’d just have to look for it later — give him an excuse to stay in the room longer.

He hears a grunt when Chanyeol tries to lie back down and decides he had enough.

“Lie on your stomach,” he says crisply.

Chanyeol looked like he was going to question it, but abandons the thought almost instantly. Baekhyun tries to hide his smile when he complies. Chanyeol buries his face on the pillow, obscuring him from view.

Baekhyun moves to his dresser and picks up a bottle of lotion. He also takes Chanyeol’s electric heating bag from a drawer and plugs it into the wall near the bedside table.

He had taken it upon himself to ask Chanyeol’s doctor about home remedies he could do to alleviate his back pains. Baekhyun had even asked his husband’s physical therapist to teach him basic massage techniques. He used to do it for Chanyeol all the time, but he is out of practice.

He swallows nervously. Can he really do it?

“Don’t read anything into this, okay. I just don’t want it getting worse.”

“What?”

Before he could chicken out, Baekhyun moves on the bed and straddles Chanyeol by the waist. He hears his husband’s gasp of surprise, but he doesn’t call him out for it or say anything remotely embarrassing. Baekhyun takes that as a sign to continue.

Baekhyun pours a generous amount of lotion on his palms, rubs his hands together, and lathers it over Chanyeol’s back. He starts with soft kneads and eventually presses more firmly, like he was taught.

Chanyeol moans.

The sound goes straight to Baekhyun’s— _No_. He was not going there.

“Does it—“ he begins, but clears his throat when his voice comes out too hoarse. “Does it hurt really bad? Do you need your meds?”

Chanyeol turns his head a bit so he can look at Baekhyun. “I think I’ll be okay. You don’t have to do this, by the way.”

Baekhyun scoffs, disbelieving. “You’re really saying that when you have that blissed-out look on your face.”

“It feels good,” Chanyeol answers without missing a beat. “Sue me.”

_Hot damn_.

Baekhyun was sure he already turned red all over. He hopes the low light from Chanyeol’s lamp camouflaged how his cheeks were burning.

But does he really care about that now?

_No_.

He was more concerned of how close his ass was to Chanyeol’s crotch. All his husband had to do was turn and—

_Stop it, Baekhyun_.

He clears his throat again and shifts to a much safer topic. “Your physical therapist is going to kill you.”

Chanyeol chuckles and his whole body _vibrates_. Oh, dear god.

“He might. I’ve been slacking off on the stretching.”

Baekhyun hums but doesn’t comment further. He was scared of his voice betraying him.

He perseveres through the next fifteen minutes of the massage without jumping Chanyeol. The evidence to prove otherwise was not _that_ obvious. Nevertheless, he glances at the thin satin pajama bottoms he was wearing. One can never be too sure.

When he deems himself _decent_ , Baekhyun moves to get off Chanyeol. He hears a very, very soft whine, he thinks he imagined it.

“Hang on,” he tells Chanyeol. “Don’t move yet.”

He takes the heating bag out of its socket and places it delicately on Chanyeol’s lower back. A hot compress always makes him feel better, if Chanyeol’s sigh of pure delight was any indication.

“Keep that on for another ten minutes.”

“I wondered where this was.”

Baekhyun gets on the bed again and pulls the comforter up to his chest. He wishes it was a pair of arms embracing him instead. He lies on his side, back facing Chanyeol.

“It’s always been here, Chanyeol. You just had to ask.”

He doesn’t get an answer after that. Baekhyun closed his eyes, ready to bring his day to a close. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours. He was exhausted.

“Baek?” he hears Chanyeol in his dreams. “I don’t hate you. I never did, never will.”

He wanted to say that it was okay, that he understands if Chanyeol hated him. He hated himself. He deserves nothing less. He tries to move his mouth to speak, but exhaustion wins and takes him over.

“Good night, Baekhyun.”

Tomorrow. He will tell Chanyeol tomorrow.

Baekhyun wakes up in warmth. That confuses him for a moment, because for the past six months, he had been waking up to a cold bed. His eyelids flutter open and he allows consciousness to slowly creep back into his body. The first thing he notices is a solid _something_ pressed against his back. Baekhyun recalls the previous night's events and he suddenly feels _very_ awake.

He adjusts his eyes and takes in his current state. He was lying on his side with Chanyeol spooning him. Chanyeol’s left arm was wound tightly around Baekhyun’s waist. Judging from the way Baekhyun’s right hand was clutching at his husband’s other arm that was thrown over the pillows above their heads, this setup wasn’t entirely one-sided. Even Baekhyun’s subconscious finds its way back to Chanyeol.

Baekhyun’s heart starts beating double time. He debates internally on what to do next, while keeping very, very still as to not wake Chanyeol up.

Does he move and get Chanyeol off him? Does he go back to sleep and wait for Chanyeol to wake up first?

The first option has him feeling depressed even when he was just thinking about it. He had missed having Chanyeol this close. Baekhyun wasn’t willing to let it go so soon.

The second option scared him. What if Chanyeol wakes and decides that sleeping next to him was a mistake? Baekhyun didn’t think he could handle the rejection.

In the end, Baekhyun chooses to be selfish.

‘ _Just for a few minutes,_ ’ he tells himself. ‘ _It can’t hurt, can it?_ ’

Baekhyun doesn’t know how long he stays lying there, wide-awake and unmoving, and basking in the warmth that is his husband. The minutes must have turned into hours, because he feels his muscles cramp up from being so tense after a while. Baekhyun almost whines. He doesn’t want to move.

However, when light starts seeping through the curtains of their once-shared bedroom, Baekhyun knew he had to end the fantasy. He shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. It was good while it lasted.

He makes a move to extract himself from Chanyeol’s embrace - starting with the hand that was holding on to his husband tightly, like a lifeline. Another sigh escapes his lips. Getting out of bed hadn’t been as hard as this.

Baekhyun looks down at the arm encaging him. It takes all of his willpower to move it, but the moment he tries, the arm holds him tighter, refusing to budge.

God, this was torture.

Baekhyun tries again. This time, he hears a muffled whine from behind him. He stiffens in his place. Was Chanyeol awake? If he was, Baekhyun needed to get out of there fast.

‘ _Coward_ ,’ he berates himself.

He tries to pry Chanyeol’s arms off him again, but was met with more resistance.

“No.”

Baekhyun gasps as his heart thunders in his chest. “Y-Yeol?”

Chanyeol scoots and the next thing he knows, his husband’s chin found purchase on the top of his head, Baekhyun’s back flush against his chest.

“Yeol, are you awake?” he asks in a whisper, thinking that Chanyeol was only sleep talking. It was wishful thinking on his part, because Chanyeol had never once sleep talked.

Baekhyun doesn’t get an answer - at least not in words.

He feels Chanyeol’s arms around him tighten even more, he didn’t think it was possible. He was almost being squeezed to death.

“Chanyeol, wait—“

“Please don’t push me away. Don’t… Please…”

Baekhyun’s breaths come out in short gasps. He had never been this nervous so early in the morning. Still, he couldn’t be sure if Chanyeol was totally aware of what he was doing. He could still be floating on the edge of sleep. Baekhyun would not take advantage of him like this.

“Yeol, let me go for a minute.”

Baekhyun feels Chanyeol shake his head. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ve been awake for as long as you have, Baek. I don’t care what happens after this. I just really want to hold you right now. So please…”

Baekhyun decides he had been thinking way too much. He’d deal with the consequences later.

With another deep breath, he relaxes and sags against Chanyeol. Baekhyun throws his left arm over the one on his waist and clasps Chanyeol’s hand with his. He deludes himself into thinking that nothing had changed.

Baekhyun feels the ghost of soft lips on his hair and he shivers.

“God, I missed you. I missed you so much.”

Baekhyun almost chokes as his throat gets clogged up. He feels his eyes water and chews on his lower lip to stop a sob from escaping. Chanyeol, however, does not hold back. Baekhyun feels Chanyeol’s body tremble as hot liquid dampens his hair from where his husband had buried his face.

_No, no, no_.

Baekhyun turns to his other side. His head ends up below Chanyeol’s chin. Baekhyun scoots closer, burrowing himself in his husband’s chest. His arms snake across Chanyeol’s back, hands clutching at his shoulders at a desperate attempt to let Chanyeol feel that he wants this just as bad. He breathes in deep.

_This_. This was how it should always be.

It would have been perfect, if not for Chanyeol’s quiet sobs echoing in the room.

He raises his head and blinks up at Chanyeol. His hand comes up to cup his husband’s face and uses his thumbs to wipe away the stains on his cheeks.

“It’s too early for tears, baby.”

He talks big, but Baekhyun was a hairline away from the waterworks as well. He hates how badly he had hurt Chanyeol. He hates himself for doing nothing about it.

“I’m sorry,” was all he manages to say. He wanted to say a lot of things, but he was afraid that he’d break down in the middle of it.

He doesn’t deserve to cry. He doesn’t deserve Chanyeol. Baekhyun doesn’t deserve to hold him close like this. He doesn’t deserve the firm kiss Chanyeol plants on his forehead.

Chanyeol hold on him loosens and he takes that chance to move a bit away and stare at his husband’s tear-stained face. Chanyeol’s eyes roam his face and stop on his lips.

Baekhyun gulps. He was sure Chanyeol heard it. None of them spoke. Baekhyun runs his thumbs across Chanyeol’s cheeks in the midst of his husband’s quiet sniffles, thinking about how badly he wanted to kiss the tears away.

Perhaps Chanyeol read his mind, because he moves his head towards Baekhyun slowly, gauging — giving him a chance to refuse, to say no. It was Baekhyun who closes the non-existent gap between them, meeting Chanyeol’s lips in a kiss before common sense could stop him. Chanyeol sighs into the kiss as soon as their lips meet, and Baekhyun prays fervently that he can somehow make things right again. He just hopes he isn’t too late.

They kiss slowly, languidly. Baekhyun lets Chanyeol set the pace, taking note of each brush of his lips, his soft breaths, and the small sounds he makes in his throat.

Baekhyun had always loved kissing Chanyeol. His husband had mastered how much pressure to apply, how he wanted occasional sucks on his lower lip and how he craved for the little nibbles and teeth scraping his lips.

How he survived months without it was beyond him. So Baekhyun lets his husband take his time, one hand splayed on Chanyeol’s bare chest, the other clasped on his nape. Chanyeol’s arm was still wound around his waist. His fingers danced around the exposed patch of skin on Baekhyun’s lower back from where his shirt had hiked up. Chanyeol lets out a low moan — almost a growl, when Baekhyun starts tugging at the hair behind his neck.

Chanyeol licks at the seams of his lips, and Baekhyun willingly opens his mouth, morning breath be damned. Almost a decade together, and it doesn’t bother them anymore. They both groan at the first contact of tongue on tongue.

Baekhyun was already half-hard in his satin pajama bottoms. It didn’t help that Chanyeol was also half-naked and so, so warm. Instinctively, he presses his hips closer against Chanyeol and was pleased to find out that he wasn’t the only one with a _problem_.

“Mmmh, Baek,” Chanyeol mewls, breaking the kiss. “Shit, you’re driving me crazy.”

“Come back,” Baekhyun whines, grabbing Chanyeol by the head and back to kissing him.

Baekhyun maneuvers them both so he ends up on top of Chanyeol. Chanyeol steadies him by the waist and grunts when Baekhyun’s elbows digs into his ribs. Chanyeol retaliates by fully grasping his butt with both hands and squeezing firmly.

Baekhyun lets out an embarrassing moan. It’s been far too long.

Their kisses turn hotter, more demanding. Baekhyun reciprocates every swipe of tongue with a shallow roll of his hips and relishes in the moans that reverberate in Chanyeol’s chest. But Chanyeol never pushes further, not going beyond light squeezes and caresses. He doesn’t even make a move to rid Baekhyun of his clothing, which frustrates him.

He wants more.

“Chanyeol, please…” he whimpers, not even bothering to hide his desperation.

Chanyeol places butterfly kisses across his cheeks, nibbles on his jaw and licks at the bottom of his ear.

“We can’t…” Chanyeol whispers, voice hoarse.

Baekhyun just wants to cry at this point. Cry and beg. “Why?”

Just then, there was a loud banging on the bedroom door, followed by panicked outcries.

“Papa? Papa?”

“That’s why,” Chanyeol mutters as Baekhyun scrambles out of bed hurriedly, distressed by the agitation he hears in Sehun’s voice.

He runs to the door and throws it open. He was met by the sight of a breathless teenager who was visibly upset about something.

“Sehun? What happened? What’s wrong?”

“It’s dad!” Sehun cries. “He’s gone! He wasn’t in the room when I woke up and he’s not downstairs either! Papa, what if— dad?”

Sehun’s rambling was cut off when Chanyeol shows up behind Baekhyun. He already had his shirt back on. His hair was perfectly disheveled and Baekhyun thinks _delicious_. He mentally slaps himself and tries to focus on the current situation.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Chanyeol asks in the same worried tone.

Sehun blinks repeatedly, disbelief coloring his face. “You were here all this time?”

“Oh... Um... I—“

Baekhyun wanted to laugh at the lost expression on Chanyeol’s face as he struggles to come up with an explanation. But his husband looks at him with pleading eyes and Baekhyun takes pity on him.

“His back was bothering him last night, so I helped with the pain, and he ended up just sleeping here,” Baekhyun answers without missing a beat.

“Yes! That’s exactly what happened,” Chanyeol adds with way too much enthusiasm, it makes Baekhyun roll his eyes. “Anyway, we... uh... overslept. You weren’t supposed to even notice I was gone.”

Sehun looks back and forth between the two of them. “I thought... I thought...”

Sehun’s bottom lip quiver and his eyes fill with unshed tears. Baekhyun feels his chest constrict and he full-on panics. He wasn’t the only one, though.

“Sehun? What’s wrong, buddy?” Chanyeol asks first, side-stepping Baekhyun and coming to stand beside Sehun.

Baekhyun also steps closer and takes one of Sehun’s hand in his. He gives Sehun a once-over, looking for any signs of injury and was relieved when he didn’t find any. Sehun turns away from the two of them and wipes at his eyes with the arm that was not being held by Baekhyun.

“Why are you crying? Did you get hurt?”

“I-I’m not…” he answers, sniffing. “There was just something in my eye...”

Baekhyun exchanges a look with Chanyeol. His husband shrugs, but there was a fond smile on his face. He mirrors the smile.

Baekhyun hugs Sehun with one arm and the teen deflates into his embrace. Sehun was still almost a foot taller than him even with his head bent, so Baekhyun settles for laying his head on the boy’s shoulder, hoping it would provide a bit of comfort.

“There, there. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”

Chanyeol pats Sehun gently by the shoulder, but says nothing. The three of them must make quite a sight. Baekhyun chuckles to himself at the thought.

Sehun straightens after a while and smiles brightly at the two of them. “I’m glad you two are okay.”

Baekhyun doesn’t reply and neither does Chanyeol. _Were they?_

“I’ll head down to the kitchen to make breakfast,” Sehun adds after another look at them and turns to leave. But before he can reach the top of the stairs, he runs back to the spot where they were both standing. Baekhyun lets out a little ‘oof’ when Sehun envelopes him and Chanyeol in a hug, one arm around each of them.

“Good morning dad, papa!” he chirps and skips his way down to the first-floor.

“Well, that was weird,” Baekhyun comments as soon as Sehun was out of earshot. He turns back into the bedroom and finds Chanyeol already seated on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands. Baekhyun closes the door quietly behind him and walks over to his husband.

“Yeol?” he prompts again, stopping a few inches away from the other man who has grown far too quiet for his liking.

Chanyeol looks up at him with a forlorn expression that makes Baekhyun do a double-take.

_What just happened?_

“Are we going back to the way we were yesterday when we step out of this room?” Chanyeol asks in a small voice.

It hurts Baekhyun more than it should, because he knows he was the one who did this. It was him who made Chanyeol think so little of himself, and he’d be damned if he let his husband continue to feel like this.

_But where does he start?_

Baekhyun sinks to his knees so that he was eye-level with Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol...”

“I swear, I won’t hold it against you,” Chanyeol interrupts before he could even get started. “Just give me a heads up?”

Baekhyun sighs. He reaches out and runs his hands through Chanyeol’s unruly hair, brushing the bangs off his forehead. Chanyeol ducks his head, not meeting his eyes. He looks… afraid, almost.

“Please look at me,” Baekhyun asks softly. Baekhyun cages Chanyeol’s face between his hands when the latter finally does. Baekhyun smiles at the pouting lips, at the same time his heart breaks a little more at the uncertainty he sees in Chanyeol’s eyes.

“The timing is a bit lousy now, because we have a teenager in the kitchen who knows absolutely nothing about cooking,” Baekhyun says with a little laugh, before turning serious again. “But we _will_ talk later, yeah?”

Chanyeol says nothing and just blinks back at him. It reminds him so much of Sehun’s earlier expression of distrust.

“Is this even real? Am I dreaming?” Chanyeol asks doubtfully, almost to himself.

Baekhyun rises from the floor and decides to straddle Chanyeol’s lap instead. Chanyeol was surprised by the sudden move, but grasps his waist on instinct. Baekhyun winds his arms around Chanyeol, hands coming to clasp behind his neck. Baekhyun kisses him quickly on the lips, earning him a startled look. So he does it again, and again, and again, until they were both giggling between pecks.

“Good morning,” Baekhyun whispers against his lips. “You’re a hundred percent awake.”

Chanyeol leans in and kisses him again and Baekhyun does nothing to stop him. Until they hear loud clattering from downstairs. He breaks off the kiss, soliciting a displeased whine from Chanyeol.

“Seriously, you need to go after him before he burns down the house.”

Chanyeol sighs as Baekhyun climbs off his lap and moves to the bed.

“Sounds like somebody I know,” Chanyeol teases with a smirk as he gets up too.

“Smartass.”

“You like my ass.”

Baekhyun was furiously embarrassed now. “Oh my god, Park Chanyeol! Stop flirting with me, it’s 7AM!”

Instead of leaving, Chanyeol looms over Baekhyun on the bed, arms on his either side. Baekhyun leans back a little, but Chanyeol was having none of it as he inches his face closer. He had this intense look in his eyes that made Baekhyun want to whimper.

He licks his lips nervously. This does not escape Chanyeol’s notice, because he flashes a lopsided grin and raises his eyebrows. Chanyeol brushes his lips against Baekhyun’s once more, but sweeter this time.

“Later?”

“Later,” Baekhyun answers with a nod. “I promise.”

Another kiss. Baekhyun could definitely get used to this.

Chanyeol smiles genuinely for the first time that morning and Baekhyun remembers why he loved waking up next to him. “Okay. Come down when you’re ready.”

Chanyeol walks to the door and pulls it open. He looks over his shoulder before he leaves the room and tells him: “Oh. Good morning, baby.”

Baekhyun hadn’t heard that in a very, very long time.

The door closes with a gentle thud, but the silly grin never left Baekhyun’s face. He falls back into the bed with a delighted squeal. He feels like a teenager again. Baekhyun lets out a deep shaky breath. He was so overwhelmed with emotion, he thinks his heart might actually burst.

He had been praying so hard for another chance with Chanyeol, and now he has it. He knew exactly what he needed to do. Baekhyun reaches for the phone on his bedside table and dials.

“Good morning, Joohyun. You’re going to hate me for this, but I need you to cancel everything I have on my schedule today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's be friends! I'm @neezwritesexo on Twitter.


	5. FIVE

It took Baekhyun another hour to finally descend the stairs and head to the kitchen. The phone call to Joohyun had been easy. Although he could hear how displeased his secretary was, she had conceded to his requests, sighing every time she crossed out an appointment from Baekhyun’s schedule.

  


The phone call to Jongdae — well, that was the trickier part. His best friend slash COO had whined, scolded and grumbled for the first twenty minutes, until Baekhyun had the courage to tell him that he wanted to spend time with Chanyeol that day. Like a switch, Jongdae’s disposition had flipped. They spent the next fifteen minutes planning out how Jongdae could take over Baekhyun’s meetings and appointments for the day, almost too enthusiastically. 

  


His friend wished him luck before he ended the call, and Baekhyun’s nerves started to go haywire. It hadn’t dawned on him how important this day’s turnout was going to be. He could be without a husband for good if he screwed things up.

  


After all the details had been ironed-out, Baekhyun spent another fifteen minutes in the bathroom trying to make himself presentable. Although he did not know why he was trying so hard. Chanyeol had already seen him with crusts in his eyes and kissed him with morning breath. He indulges himself though, he had not felt this excited ever since his first date with Chanyeol.

  


He takes the stairs with a skip in his step, but tiptoeing when he nears the kitchen. His heart thunders in his chest at the prospect of facing Chanyeol again after that heated morning makeout session. He sighs in relief when he finds Sehun alone, laying plates and coffee mugs out on the small island. The teen looks up when he enters, a bright smile on his face. It must have been infectious, because Baekhyun finds himself grinning back.

  


“Where’s dad?” Baekhyun asks before he can think twice about it. When he realized the slip, it was too late. Sehun’s grin spreads wider, eyes twinkling in delight. Baekhyun tells himself he must have gotten used to Sehun’s way of calling him and Chanyeol. That was it. He shrugs away the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach and tries to look like nothing out of the ordinary just happened.

  


“He went down to his studio, papa. I think he had a eureka moment when he was about to make the pancakes,” Sehun explains as Baekhyun eyes the bowl of batter sitting near the stove. “He told me not to touch anything, so I figured I could set the table at least.”

  


Baekhyun’s attention shifts to the kitchen island. He and Chanyeol use it more frequently than the actual dining table. He wonders why Sehun had chosen to eat there instead of the dining room. Maybe Chanyeol had instructed him to do so. He counts three sets of cutlery and the strange feeling in his stomach is back. It was almost like deja vu. Baekhyun ignores it again.

  


“How long has he been gone?” Baekhyun asks Sehun instead.

  


“Maybe half an hour?”

  


Baekhyun merely nods. He had seen episodes like this in the past. Once Chanyeol gets an “epiphany” from whatever music god he had, it was difficult to stop him. Baekhyun figures it was going to take another thirty minutes for Chanyeol to come up, so he decides to get started on the pancakes. He can do that much.

  


He gives himself a pat on the back when he manages to get it right on the first try. See, he can be useful in the kitchen too. He was making the fourth piece when he heard thundering footsteps from the basement and Chanyeol’s voice.

  


“Sehun, did your papa come down for — Baek!” Chanyeol startles as soon as he takes sight of Baekhyun by the stove. 

  


Baekhyun smiles sheepishly, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He flips the pancake to hide his flaming cheeks from Chanyeol’s view. His husband was beside him in an instant, grabbing him by the shoulders and leading him to the table.

  


“I’ll do this. Wait here,” Chanyeol says with a smile and turns back to the stove before Baekhyun could protest. Sehun pours him a cup of coffee, still beaming giddily, making him tut. Somebody was clearly enjoying this.

  


Chanyeol was obviously doing a better job, because the table was quickly laden with a stack of pancakes, fried eggs, toast and bacon. Baekhyun feels his mouth water. It had been too long since he had a proper breakfast. The past few months had been takeout coffee and stale bagels.

  


“Eat quickly,” Chanyeol tells him after filling his plate with everything. “You’ll be late.”

  


“I’m not going to work today.”

  


His husband halts from drizzling maple syrup on his pancakes. He gets up from his seat across Baekhyun, goes over to his side and lays a gentle hand on his forehead.

  


“You don’t seem feverish. Do you have an upset stomach?” Chanyeol asks worriedly, confusing Baekhyun.

  


“Huh?”

  


“You’re not going to work because you’re sick, aren’t you?”

  


Sehun was immediately out of his seat and on his other side upon hearing this. Baekhyun groans in frustration.

  


“No, no,” he says repeatedly. “I’m not… I just…”

  


He trails off, not knowing how to proceed. How was he going to tell Chanyeol he wanted to spend the day with him? Why was it so hard?

  


Baekhyun sees the puzzled look on his husband’s face and sighs. “Umm… Are you… Are you free today?”

  


“Me?” Chanyeol asks, pointing to himself.

  


Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Yes.”

  


“Why?”

  


“I-I was thinking,” he stutters. Why was he stuttering so much? “Iwaswonderingifyouwantedtogodosomethingtogether.”

  


“I’m sorry, could you say that again?”

  


Baekhyun’s cheeks flame up. He glances at Sehun helplessly. Unlike Chanyeol, the teen had a playful look on his face. He gives Baekhyun a look as if to say “go on”. At least one of them wasn’t an idiot. Baekhyun takes a deep breath and tries again.

  


“I said, would you like to go do something together?”

  


Chanyeol still had the same dumbfounded look on his face when he answered, “Today?”

  


“Yes, Chanyeol. Today,” Baekhyun confirms, more confidently this time. “I took a day off. Figured we could go out or something. Maybe that indoor water park you wanted to go to so much?”

  


Baekhyun remembered Chanyeol had been raving about the park for weeks after it had opened more than a year ago. They had made plans to go, but it had been pushed back and pushed back, until it was totally forgotten because of all the shit that had gone down. He had already booked the tickets before coming down and made sure the park would be warm enough, even in the fall. All Baekhyun needed was Chanyeol’s confirmation. Better late than never.

  


“I have a demo to finish,” Chanyeol replies and Baekhyun’s face falls. His husband must have noticed, because he quickly adds, “But I’ll be done by lunchtime. We can go then. Is that okay?”

  


The look Chanyeol gives him was so hopeful, and another brief look at Sehun gives him an identical expression. Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. He lets out a relieved breath. 

  


“Sounds like a plan.”

  


  


  


Baekhyun had spent the remainder of the morning in the living room with Sehun. The teen had put up a TV show he seemed to have taken an interest in. Sehun’s giggles at the character’s punch lines served as pleasant background noise, while Baekhyun idly sketched designs for his next collection.

  


Chanyeol, true to his word, had emerged from his studio a few hours later with an accomplished smile and a memory stick in hand. Baekhyun had watched amused when Sehun all but dragged his husband up to his room to get ready for their outing.

  


“Are you sure this is okay?” Chanyeol asks for the nth time.

  


“Yes. I’ve already arranged things with Joohyun and Jongdae, so there shouldn’t be any problem. I am expecting a call, though. Jongdae’s meeting with the suppliers. He’s going to need a confirmation from me before pushing through. It shouldn’t take long.” 

  


Baekhyun takes another look at the unconvinced expression on his husband’s face and adds, “Come on, Chanyeol. This is the first day off I’ve taken in two years.”

  


Chanyeol finally nods. “Do you mind if we stop by the company after? I’m just going to hand the demo over to Kris. I want to do it personally.”

  


“Sure,” Baekhyun agrees. “Is that for your latest project? The boy group?”

  


“Uhm… No… This is another song.”

  


“Oh. Who’s singing it?” he asks curiously. 

  


Baekhyun wanted to show more interest in his husband’s career. Before leaving their bedroom that morning, he had promised himself that he would pay more attention to Chanyeol — something he should have been doing already. He was determined to keep that promise.

  


Chanyeol smiles bashfully and scratches the back of his neck. “Someone good, hopefully. This one’s a bit more special than the others.”

  


“Is that it, dad? You finished it?” Sehun interrupts, suddenly very interested.

  


“Well, inspiration hit me,” his husband answers with a shrug.

  


“I hope I get to hear it,” Sehun says solemnly, his somber tone making Baekhyun’s brows furrow in concern. But before he could ask the boy what was wrong, the downcast expression was replaced with excitement.

  


“I call shotgun!” Sehun declares with glee and runs to the front door.

  


Chanyeol throws him an inquiring look and Baekhyun nods once to let him know that he was okay to sit in the back. Besides, he doubted he could say no to Sehun, not with that absolutely delighted smile the teen flashes when he and Chanyeol follow him outside.

  


  


  


They leave the water park with damp hair and high spirits at dusk. Baekhyun chuckles to himself as he listens to Chanyeol and Sehun’s playful bickering from behind him. The two had the most fun in the wave pool where they had an impromptu match to see who can stay standing on a small surfboard the longest.

  


As it turns out, Sehun was about as competitive as Chanyeol, so what started as a friendly game turned more serious in the end. Baekhyun had laughed incredulously from the sidelines when Sehun insisted on a best of three when he lost the first time. Chanyeol had agreed almost instantly, so now, he was sulking because he had lost to Sehun after three rounds. His husband suggested another two rounds, but was harshly rejected by the cunning Sehun. 

  


“I didn’t know you were a sore loser, dad!” Sehun teases, making Baekhyun giggle.

  


“You brat! You lost the first time!”

  


“Be a man and accept your defeat!”

  


“Alright, that’s enough,” Baekhyun interrupts before things escalate further. “Where do you guys want to go for dinner? My treat.”

  


At the mention of food, the two men turn to him at the same time, wearing identical faces of glee. Baekhyun laughs in amusement. It was quite an endearing sight. Sehun decides to take the backseat this time, giving back Baekhyun his rightful place in the front.

  


They decide to go to a barbecue restaurant near Chanyeol’s company building since they were dropping off his demo anyway. Chanyeol pulls up by the building entrance, not even bothering to find a parking space.

  


“I told Kris to meet me in the lobby so I don’t have to go up. We can go right after I hand him the flash drive,” he explains when Baekhyun asks. 

  


He could be reaching, but Baekhyun felt a bit giddy with the fact that Chanyeol didn’t want to leave him and Sehun for too long. 

  


“Oh, there he is!” Chanyeol says after a few seconds. “I’ll be right back.”

  


Baekhyun nods as Chanyeol climbs out of the car and jogs to the lobby. Baekhyun’s eyes follow his husband to the elevators where he sees the familiar silhouette of Kris. There was however, another person with the music producer — a woman. 

  


Baekhyun squints, trying to recognise the other person conversing with his husband. His blood runs cold when he does. He shivers as words rang clear in his head like he had heard it yesterday.

  


‘You can’t even take care of him. What right do you have to call him your husband?’

‘You can never give him a family. I can.’

‘When he gets tired of you, and he will, I’ll be right here to pick up the pieces.’

  


  


  


Chanyeol notices Baekhyun’s shift in mood at dinner. He had caught his husband staring into space and lost in thought numerous times. However, when he attempted to bring it up and ask Baekhyun what was wrong, the clinical smile would be back on his face and Chanyeol had no choice but to let it go.

  


When they got home, Baekhyun was out of the car and into the house before Chanyeol had completely cut the car engine off. He and Sehun followed his husband inside after exchanging worried glances. It seems that it wasn’t only him that noticed. They found Baekhyun in the kitchen having just finished a glass of water and looking dejected. His face had lost the glow from this afternoon’s activities and Chanyeol wonders what brought on the drastic change.

  


“Baek?” he begins tentatively. “Is everything alright?”

  


Baekhyun blinks rapidly. Chanyeol knows he does this everytime he has to think about an answer to a question. Baekhyun looked conflicted for a moment, but he disguised it once again with a smile that was too fake for Chanyeol’s liking. He had committed all of Baekhyun’s smiles to memory. This definitely wasn’t one of them.

  


“Of course. I’m just tired, I think,” Baekhyun answers with a small laugh. It sounded hollow to Chanyeol’s ears.

  


“Oh, I meant to ask. How long has Chaeyoung been back?”

  


Chanyeol’s forehead wrinkled at the sudden interest in his co-worker. Chaeyoung was one of the producers in his company, and they had worked together for a number of projects. Baekhyun knew of her, naturally; he had introduced the two before. However, he couldn’t fathom why his husband would ask about Chaeyoung so casually. As far as he knows, they did not know each other well. Apart from Kris, there was really no one in his workplace that Baekhyun was close to. The only time he remembers his husband and the woman had crossed paths was during a staff party from two years ago. After that, Chaeyoung had left to head a company project overseas.

  


“Two, maybe three weeks ago? I can’t remember. We haven’t really talked since she came back.”

  


“Oh. Okay,” Baekhyun says meekly and doesn’t say anything else, confusing Chanyeol even more. He feels his own mood deflate. It was like a cloud fell over their heads and the room turned darker than it actually was. He felt cold all over.

  


“Papa!” Sehun quips animatedly. It was obvious the teen was trying to lift up the sudden gloomy atmosphere. Chanyeol appreciated the gesture, although he wasn’t sure it was going to do much at this point.

  


“I just want to tell you both thank you for today. I had so much fun.”

  


‘Fun while it lasted’, Chanyeol thought bitterly.

  


Chanyeol smiled despite himself. He reached out to squeeze Sehun’s shoulder lightly. “You’re welcome, buddy.”

  


“I’m glad,” Baekhyun says with a small, calculated smile. Chanyeol was beginning to hate it. “I’m going up to our room first. Jongdae wants to walk me through on what went down at the company today. Take a shower, Sehun.”

  


After playfully ruffling Sehun’s hair, Baekhyun departs the kitchen without another word. Chanyeol is not able to do anything other than gaze longingly after his retreating back. He sighs heavily. 

  


Now what?

  


“Dad?”

  


“Hm?”

  


“Aren't you going after papa?” Chanyeol startles at the boy's blunt suggestion. “Something’s clearly bothering him. He looks… sad.”

  


Sad wasn’t exactly the word Chanyeol would use. The way Baekhyun’s shoulders hung and his footsteps dragged all the way up the stairs would suggest a different term. Tired was more suitable; defeated, if he was to be more precise. 

  


Baekhyun had looked defeated.

  


But the question was why?

  


“He might want to be alone, Sehun. Let’s just leave him be.”

  


“But what if he doesn’t?” Sehun says, and at Chanyeol’s confused expression he clarifies, “You think he wants to be alone, but what if he doesn’t?”

  


Chanyeol did not have an answer to that. He used to be an expert in giving Baekhyun what he needed before his husband even asked for it. Chanyeol used to be able to tell exactly how Baekhyun was feeling, what his expressions meant, when he needed a hug, and when he needed some time for himself. But at the end of it all, Baekhyun would always find his way back to Chanyeol. After every fight, every bad day, every childish tantrum, Baekhyun would always end up in Chanyeol’s arms at the end of the day.

  


It was the same for Baekhyun. Chanyeol isn’t the most expressive person. He may be able to write lyrics like nobody’s business, but when it came to talking, he was almost useless. This was why he had written a lot of songs for Baekhyun. He had written a song when he first confessed, wrote another one when he wanted to ask Baekhyun to move in with him, wrote a song about make-up sex, and the list goes on and on. Hell, even his marriage proposal had been done through a song.

  


That had never been a problem for them. Baekhyun knew him from the inside-out, Chanyeol had never deemed words necessary. 

  


That was all in the past, though.

  


Maybe that was where things started to go wrong, because right now, Chanyeol had no fucking clue what was going on. What did he miss? Had there been signs all along? Where was he when this was happening?

  


“That’s just what I think!” Sehun says suddenly, taking Chanyeol away from his inner turmoil. He had actually forgotten he wasn’t alone. 

  


“What do I know anyway, I’m just a kid. Can I borrow your clothes, dad? I don’t have any to change into after I shower.”

  


“Huh? Oh, okay. Yes. Sure. Just take whatever.”

  


Sehun makes a hum of assent. Chanyeol, who was still distracted, thought the teen had already gone when his attention was called again.

  


“Dad?”

  


Sehun’s tone suddenly turned serious and Chanyeol figures it might be something important. He shakes his head and focuses on the young man. “Yes, buddy?”

  


“I love you. Papa does, too.”

  


Like Baekhyun had done before him, Sehun heads up to his room after that cryptic remark, leaving Chanyeol dumbfounded, confused and with a throbbing headache.

  


  


  


Baekhyun falls to the bed face first, with a heavy sigh. He really had to learn how to be more subtle. He knew both Chanyeol and Sehun noticed the abrupt change in his demeanor, but he was just so… what was he actually feeling, anyway? 

  


Hurt? Angry? Jealous? Confused? Perhaps it was all of those things. Baekhyun had long given up trying to decipher his emotions when Chanyeol was concerned. The feelings that came with thoughts of his husband were usually too intense to put into words. 

  


One thing was clear, though. It was definitely because of that woman. Seeing her today had awakened old ghosts that Baekhyun thought he had already gotten rid of. Or maybe he just deluded himself into thinking they were gone. Maybe they had always been there all this time, just hiding, waiting for the perfect moment to torment him again.

  


Meeting Chaeyoung had been pleasant. The woman had been well-mannered and soft-spoken, Baekhyun actually wanted to be friends with her – until he didn’t. He had to give it to her for being able to hide her disdain for Baekhyun so well that nobody, even Chanyeol, noticed. 

  


It was during that time Chanyeol got hit with stomach flu and had to be confined to the hospital. His husband, seemingly forgetting that he was married, didn’t think to inform Baekhyun of his condition until the end of that day; not that Baekhyun could blame him, he had already missed a lot of Chanyeol’s sick days because of work. He had rushed to the hospital in panic, only to find his husband being doted on by his beautiful co-worker.

  


The female music producer had looked at him with obvious contempt, while Baekhyun felt sick to his stomach for neglecting Chanyeol yet again. He had gritted his teeth while telling Chaeyoung that he would take over and look after his husband. The woman had thrown him a malicious smirk, waited for Chanyeol’s pain medication to take effect and put him to sleep, said those words, and left Baekhyun feeling like he got slapped on the face with the truth and hating himself.

  


He had to admit a part of him rejoiced when he heard about Chaeyoung being assigned abroad for a project. Although Baekhyun realizes no interference from the woman was needed to ruin his marriage. He and Chanyeol ended up filing for divorce either way, just as she predicted.

  


‘Maybe it’s better for us to just break up.’

  


Why did he even say that? The words had been out of his mouth even before he had time to think about what it would mean for him and Chanyeol. He had said it out of spite, Chaeyoung words nagging at him from the back of his mind, and haunting him in his dreams. He didn’t even mean them. Baekhyun didn’t think Chanyeol would agree to it so easily.

  


He wants to punch himself every time he is taken back to the day he uttered those words that cemented the doom of his marriage. If only he could turn back time. Baekhyun would take those words back — not say them at all. 

  


All of it was his damn fault, really.

  


He sighs pitifully and pulls at his hair in frustration. He had been so confident at making things right with Chanyeol. But now, he wonders if he deserves another chance. He had hurt Chanyeol so much, who’s to say he won’t do it again? Maybe he should just leave Chanyeol alone. Give him a chance to find someone better, someone who deserves him.

  


Baekhyun lies there, unmoving, for who knows how long. Inside his head, he was running through various scenarios of him growing old alone, without Chanyeol. Just the mere thought of it had his eyes spilling tears that don’t seem to stop coming.

  


He hears a soft knock on the bedroom door, rousing him from the horror movie his brain had come up with. Baekhyun hurriedly rids his face of any traces of tears, and calls out a weak “yes” to whoever was on the door.

  


“Papa?” Sehun says as his head peeks in. “Can I come in?”

  


“Of course,” Baekhyun answers, sitting up right. He notices Sehun’s damp hair and the shirt he was wearing. It was one of Chanyeol’s old ones from college that he keeps hidden at the bottom of his closet. Baekhyun wonders how Sehun had managed to dig it out. He swallows the lump in his throat and fights another fresh wave of tears he feels coming.

  


Baekhyun clears his throat and asks again. “Do you need anything?”

  


Sehun approaches the bed and sits beside him. Baekhyun gets a whiff of Chanyeol’s body wash, probably because the teen had just used it. It was like the universe was deliberately trying to remind him of what he was about to lose.

  


“I just wanted to check on you,” Sehun answers, keen eyes observing him.

  


“Why?”

  


Sehun gives him an incredulous look that clearly tells him that he wasn’t taking any bullshit.

  


“I’m fine,” Baekhyun answers for the sake of it.

  


“You’re obviously not,” Sehun says with a roll of his eyes. Then, he sighs heavily. “I get it. You don’t want to talk about it to me. But do you know who you need to talk to?”

  


Baekhyun knows where this conversation is headed. He wasn’t ready for it yet. “Sehun—”

  


“It was really good to see you and dad having fun today. Together,” the boy states thoughtfully, looking at a distance with a fond smile on his face. “You’ve always looked better together.”

  


The statement hits Baekhyun with more force than he thought possible. Simple as the words may be, Baekhyun knows in his heart that it was true. It had always been Baekhyun and Chanyeol. It was always supposed to be Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He had to make sure it stays that way. Baekhyun feels his resolve renew.

  


Sehun turns to look at him again. The young man stares at him for a while, searching his face as if committing it to memory. Then, he smiles. Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice how Sehun’s eyes turned damp. He was about to mention this when the teen looks away and stands.

  


“Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say,” Sehun declares. “I had a great time today, really. I won’t ever forget it.”

  


Sehun ducks to kiss his cheek and heads to the door. “Good night, papa.”

  


“Dry your hair before you go to bed,” Baekhyun reminds him, not able to stop himself. “I don’t want you getting a cold.”

  


Sehun nods smiling and leaves the room as quietly as he came in.

  


A minute after Sehun leaves, Baekhyun takes one last deep breath and makes his way to the basement to Chanyeol’s studio. It was time for him to take his husband back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I only updated on Twitter and not here. Sorry for the long wait!
> 
> Let's be friends! I'm @neezwritesexo on Twitter.

**Author's Note:**

> Let's be friends! I'm @neezwritesexo on Twitter.


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